Seattle man falls, dies near Wallace Falls

Update: The Snohomish County Medical Examiner has identified the Seattle man who died after falling at Wallace Falls on Sunday, Sept. 24, as 32-year-old Yuri Natanzon.

Natanzon had been hiking with friends and family when he went over an embankment near the Sky Valley lookout at middle falls, according to a Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office news release. His wife called 911 and told dispatch their dog had also fallen.

It is the second death to occur in the area outside Gold Bar this summer, and the third accident where rescue crews were deployed. Rescuers were able to save the couple’s dog.

The group was about 2.4 miles from the Wallace Falls State Park parking lot when Natanzon fell just before 5 p.m., according to the release. Responders were able to locate the man. His body was at the base of the middle falls, but could not immediately be reached.

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A Seattle man who fell near Wallace Falls died Sunday evening.

The 33-year-old had been hiking with friends and family when he went over an embankment near the Sky Valley lookout at middle falls, according to a Snohomish County Sheriff's Office news release. His wife called 911 and told dispatch their dog had also fallen.

It is the second death to occur in the area outside Gold Bar this summer, and the third accident where rescue crews were deployed.

The group was about 2.4 miles from the Wallace Falls State Park parking lot when the man fell just before 5 p.m., according to the release. Responders were able to locate the man. His body was at the base of the middle falls, but could not immediately be reached.

A rescue attempt was hindered by treacherous terrain, according to the release. The agency's SnoHAWK 10 helicopter was used to lower rescuers down to the man and recover his body.

Fire District 26 firefighters were able to save the couple's dog, according to the release.

An 18-year-old girl also died in late July after she fell into the water. Haylei Hughes was crossing the Wallace River on July 26 with friends when she slipped.

Group members said they had climbed over a railing to cross the Wallace River. They headed out to an island and then made their way back to the trail.

That was when Hughes cried out, and a splash in the water was heard. Her friends called 911 at about 7:45 p.m. Hughes was from Las Vegas, and went to a community college in the area.

Her GoPro stick and shoes were found at the base of Wallace Falls, and she was still missing by the time efforts were suspended that first night.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office lists her cause of death as multiple blunt force injuries. The agency will also determined and release the cause and manner of the death of the 33-year-old man who fell in this weekend.

His body was handed to the medical examiner's office after it had been airlifted to Taylor's Landing, the headquarters for Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue in Snohomish.

Another woman was critically injured from a fall in Wallace Falls State Park on Aug. 21. The 38-year-old landed on a ledge near Wallace Falls. She had been canyoneering with a group at the time. The woman had been braking her climbing rope when she lost control, and she landed on a ledge near the falls.

It took about six hours to get the woman out. She had fallen 30 feet in a location that was hard for responders to reach. Local agencies sent crew members out after an emergency beacon was activated within the park.

The 33-year-old man is the fifth person to have died in one of the area's rivers this summer. Two people fell in at Sunset Falls near Index, and a 70-year-old Gold Bar man, Olaf Ericksen, had been out for a walk near his home when he went missing.

All three people went into the water in June.