Search: Injured couple waits for help in wilderness area

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A pair of deputies are hiking into the Goat Rocks Wilderness area this morning trying to find two injured hikers who slipped and fell while trekking through snow fields yesterday.

One of them, using his satellite phone, was able to relay they were near Hart Lake could not make it out and requested a rescue, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

Hart Lake is south of Packwood.

The sheriff’s was office contacted just before 5 p.m. yesterday, had a phone conversation with the hikers and advised them to stay put, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown.

Brown said it’s unknown where the husband and wife couple are from or their ages. The phone connection was not clear, Brown said.

A deputy was told the woman cut her leg, but the bleeding had been controlled and the husband bruised his hip, according to Brown.

There is some confusion as to specifically where the couple is, as there is no GPS function working on their phone, Brown said.

The sheriff’s office hopes to fly its plane over the area, which may be able to spot the pair and then send GPS coordinates to ground crews, Brown said.

Search and rescue teams have not been called out yet because they don’t yet have a good location, according to Brown.

Tags: ,

Comments are closed.