Searchers recover body Tuesday in Swinomish Channel

It will be cold comfort to the family whose relative was found in the Swinomish Channel mid-day Tuesday, Jan. 23 but perhaps allow the start of a grieving and healing process. Employing a remote operated underwater vehicle supplied by the Seattle Harbor Patrol, staff from the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office located and recovered human remains during a low tide search.

The remains were found in the Swinomish Channel adjacent to the south end of First Street. This was the same area of a low tide search conducted the evening of Jan. 10, when agency staffs were operating in the parking lot west of Maple Hall. That effort led to the Jan. 23 rescue, Search and Rescue Deputy Kyle Wiggins told the Weekly News.

The Skagit County’s Coroner’s Office has the remains and will be identifying the person and investigating the circumstances of the death.

A search started New Year’s Day for a missing 27-year-old Kirkland woman after the Skagit County 911 office took a 5:38 a.m. call of a suicide attempt in La Conner. The sheriff’s office heard from family members concerned about her welfare. Sgt. Brad Holmes reported a shoe belonging to the subject was found the afternoon of Jan. 1 in the channel, about 50 feet from her last known phone location.

Several search and rescue agencies from throughout the Puget Sound region, coordinated by the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office, descended on La Conner through the Jan. 10 search.

The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office thanks the King County Sheriff’s Office, the Seattle Police Department Harbor Patrol Unit, Swinomish Tribal Fisheries Police, U.S. Border Patrol and all the volunteer search and rescue personnel for their assistance.