Second person goes missing near Sunset Falls

The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office was searching near Sunset Falls again this week after a 25-year-old woman went missing while visiting the area with her mother.

The woman was sitting on a rock near her mother, who turned away at one point, said sheriff's office spokesperson Shari Ireton. When she looked back, her daughter had disappeared. It is not confirmed if the woman fell into the water, but the area is where efforts have been concentrated since about 7:40 p.m. Tuesday, when the call first came in, she said.

Ireton said the mother had searched around the Skykomish River near Index for her daughter. Rescue crews searched on the ground, and by air using SnoHawk1 helicopter, for about an hour before nightfall forced the agency to suspend efforts, she said.

The sheriff's office has not been able to put a dive team in the water because conditions are so dangerous, Ireton said. The cold mixed with the volume of water currently coming over the falls poses too high a risk to put anyone in the water, she said.

Conditions were just as precarious more than one week ago, when a 49-year-old man slipped and fell into the river near Sunset Falls on Saturday, June 17. Search efforts for the man were called off after a few days when no new evidence turned up.

The 25-year-old woman that went missing on Tuesday had come from Texas to visit her mother, who lives in the area, Ireton said.

The area around Sunset Falls is largely private property, Ireton said. The public is advised to stay away altogether, and should not attempt to search for the two missing people themselves, she said.  

“No additional large-scale search operations are planned at this time, but SAR (search and rescue) personnel will continue an evidence-based search of the area, as well as regular spot checks of the river shoreline,” according to a sheriff's office news release.

The body of the 49-year-old man has not yet been recovered.