Sheriff's Office recovers body of missing Monroe man

The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Unit recovered the body of a 37-year-old Monroe man from an island on the Skykomish River on Wednesday, June 14.

It was a spot outside Sultan, where the man camped and launched his canoe from regularly, said Sheriff's spokeswoman Shari Ireton. He was dead when first responders arrived, she said.

The man’s father had contacted law enforcement when he didn’t return home, and the sheriff’s office responded around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Ireton said.

The man had been out canoeing and camping on the river since Friday, June 9, according to a news release. Responders spotted the man's camp from a SnoHawk1 chopper Wednesday afternoon.

Ireton said a crewmember was lowered from the helicopter onto the island; they found the man's body inside his tent. SnoHawk1 was then called back, she said, and replaced by a larger SnoHawk10 helicopter.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner was flown out to the scene as well, and conducted a brief on-site investigation, Ireton said. The man was then secured into a device similar to a gurney and lifted into the helicopter, she said.

The crew flew back to Taylor's Landing, which is the base for the sheriff's office’s search and rescue units, Ireton said.

“It appears from all evidence that it was a natural death,” she said.

While nothing is considered suspicious at this time, the examiner’s office will be in charge of determining the cause and manner of death, as well as positively identifying the deceased.