Updated at 1:09 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Deputies last night confirmed that a 51-year-old Winlock man never returned home after an outing at Lake Mayfield yesterday and he is presumed drowned.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office was among those who responded to an approximately 2:30 p.m. call that the man didn’t resurface after jumping with a friend from a bluff at Ike Kinswa State Park.
As deputies came to understand the incident had occurred around the noon hour, the search and rescue efforts began to wind down.
The friend, a 43-year-old man who lives in the Mossyrock area, said he went home and then called 911, though there was a significant time delay, Undersheriff Rob Snaza said.
His reason for waiting to call wasn’t clear at all, according to Snaza.
The Winlock man’s name has not been released.
Snaza said there are no plans to put a dive team in the water but they’ll talk today to decide how to proceed.
The lake is more than 100 feet deep in that area, he said.
“It’s hard to say when we’ll see something, because of the temperature of the water and how deep it is,” he said this morning.
Snaza said deputies came to learn the two men had been jumping from the Winston Creek side of the lake on the southern end earlier and decided to go to the cliff near the boat launch at Ike Kinswa, at the northwest corner of the lake. He said they had been drinking, Snaza said.
The Winlock man had never jumped from that spot, he said.
“The RP (reporting party) jumps in first, he’d done it there before, and he pops up and starts swimming to shore,” Snaza said. “Then he hears his buddy jump and doesn’t see his buddy pop up.”
He spent about an hour searching the lake bank for his friend and then went home, according to the sheriff’s office.
The cliff is described as 30 feet above the water.
Ike Kinswa is off state Route 122, which runs around the north side of the lake.
Ten firefighters from Salkum and Mossyrock responded to the afternoon call and scoured the banks for about an hour, according to Lewis County Fire District 8 Chief Duran McDaniel.
Both the sheriff’s office and the Mossyrock Fire Department launched their boats, with members of the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office water rescue team responding as well.
Snaza said they finished their work on the water about 4:30 p.m., but deputies continued into the evening investigating and checking with the 51-year-old’s friends and family.
“We confirmed he was not at home,” Snaza said.
No formal search or recovery attempts are underway today, according to Snaza, but deputies, the state park ranger and the Mossyrock Fire Department will continue to check the area.
Deputies haven’t found anyone other than the Mossyrock man who witnessed the two jumping from the bluff, but concluded it happened between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., according to Snaza.
Snaza, a longtime sergeant with the sheriff’s office was promoted to undersheriff as of Monday, filling the vacancy created when Chief of Staff Steven Walton in July took a position as Lewis County budget administrator. Snaza is one of two individuals running for sheriff in November’s election.