Missing Campers Found Safe In Snow

Thu., May 28, 1998

From Staff

Three teenage hikers missing since Monday night were found unharmed Wednesday afternoon in a snowy ravine near Stevens Pass.

Marshall Bilodeau and Peter Funk, both 19, and Shilo Farmer, 18, were reported missing late Monday night after failing to return from a Memorial Day weekend camping trip.

The three were equipped with tents and food, but were unprepared for unusually cold weather and deep snowfall, officials say.

Search efforts centered on a steep, heavily wooded patch at the 5,900-foot elevation on Licheenberg Mountain.

Up to 5 feet of new snow hampered the efforts, causing searchers to frequently chase tracks that disappeared into drifts, Chelan County Sheriff’s Inspector Mike Harum said.

Farmer and Bilodeau are set to graduate in less than two weeks from Ephrata High School. Funk just completed his freshman year at Washington State University.

Phil Bilodeau, Marshall’s father, came up to the search base camp Tuesday morning to keep track of the search.

“They’ve been friends for years,” he said of the trio who first met in grade school.

“It’s just one of those things they wanted to do (before graduating),” Bilodeau said of the camping trip.

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