Friday afternoon, 2 Buried and Killed North of Cle Elum

2 men were buried and killed in a Friday afternoon avalanche in the North Cascades.

Two others were able to escape

Around 4 PM Kittitas County Search and Rescue responded to a Garmin satellite device distress call from an area near Long's Pass, the location was roughly 25 miles north of Cle Elum.

The two men said they'd been caught in avalanche and 2 others in their party were buried. According to the KCSO the two victims, Paul Markoff, 38, of North Bend, and Erik Henne, 43, of Snoqualmie Pass, were deceased.

The two survivors, identified as Ian Laing and Patrick Leslie, were able to send the distress signal. The rescue team was able to locate them, using winter back country equipment, and got the two men out that night. Due to hazardous weather, crews had to wait until Saturday to retrieve the two victims as well as the party's equipment and 2 snowmobiles they had been using.

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King County's Guardian 2 search and rescue chopper was able to help transport the victims. The Northwest Avalanche Center also arrived to assess the situation, and analyze the site. They do so to try to help predict preliminary conditions about when and where avalanches may occur, to make recreating in the mountains in the winter safer.

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Gallery Credit: KATELYN LEBOFF

Filed Under: weather news