Two teenagers were killed during an avalanche while snowshoeing in Washington, where rescuers located them in a backcountry area using GPS on one of their phones, authorities said.
The King County Medical Examiner identified the teens late Tuesday as Declan Ervin, 17, and Niko Suokko, 18. The teens, both of Bellevue, were snowshoeing in the Apental ski area on Sunday and their parents contacted police when they failed to return home, KING-TV reports.
Deputies from the King County Sheriff’s Office told the station that both teens were wearing avalanche beacons at the time and were located near Snoqualmie Pass with the help of GPS. A rescue team began looking for the teens at about 8 a.m. Monday and found their bodies hours later.
Searchers at one point actually had to retreat due to an avalanche threat, but they later returned and found the bodies. Conditions of “extreme avalanche dangers” prevented rescue teams from heading out late Sunday, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
A Facebook group called Downhill24 identified Ervin as a competitive downhill bike racer who was expected to compete on the “world stages” later this year.
“Love you Declan, rest easy and keep it pinned,” the post read.
Suokko, according to a LinkedIn profile cited by KING-TV, was a ski instructor at The Summit at Snoqualmie and a student at Interlake High School in Bellevue.
The teens died from asphyxiation due to snow entrapment, according to the medical examiner.
The deaths marked at least the third fatality caused by an avalanche in the area over the weekend. Joseph Simenstad, 32, of Issaquah, died Sunday after suffering extensive trauma in an avalanche on Stampede Pass. Simenstad’s wife and another 24-year-old man were also injured, but survived with minor injuries, KING-TV reports.