Bad Weather Hampers Search For Missing Hikers

Fri., Jan. 3, 1997

From Staff And Wire Reports

Bad weather kept helicopters from resuming an aerial search Thursday for three hikers who set off last Friday for Mount Index.

The ground search was called off Wednesday due to dangerous conditions that put searchers at risk, said spokeswoman Jan Jorgensen in the Snohomish County sheriff’s office.

“We’ve had avalanche after avalanche up there,” Jorgensen said Thursday. And on Wednesday, a snow bridge collapsed under one searcher, dumping him into a river.

Two helicopters had planned to resume an aerial search Thursday but pouring rain early in the day prevented the flights. By the time the weather began to clear, the light was waning, Jorgensen said.

Search crews had been looking since Monday for Fred Petrie, 31, of Snohomish; Scott Bennett, 28, of Gold Bar; and Tim Skadan, 31, of Bothell. The men were reported missing when they did not return Sunday.

The search area near Lake Serene is at an elevation of 3,500 feet.

Jorgensen said helicopters would continue searching as weather permits.

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