Silence weighs heavily on the families of the missing

OSO — Steve Harris was texting his nephew, urging him to visit him in his home along the North Fork Stillaguamish River.

That was the last time Harris was heard from. It was just before the mudslide hit Saturday morning.

Robyn Dombroski, his sister, hasn’t received any news of Harris or his wife, Theresa, since the disaster.

Harris, 52, owns a cabin on 312 Street NE in Oso. According to property tax records, he lived in Edmonds.

Dombroski said Theresa Harris was last heard from via Facebook on Saturday morning.

“Everyone’s in the state of shell shock right now,” said Dombroski, who lived in Alaska. “There’s nothing anyone can do.”

Harris is an avid fisherman who enjoys being outdoors. If he died, Dombroski said, the family can take comfort knowing he was in a part of the world he loved best.

“If we can’t get closure with the rescuers actually recovering them, that’s the next best thing,” she said. “We’re hoping for a miracle.”

Dombroski said the family has been keeping their spirits up by thinking of ways Steve Harris may have used his outdoor skills to survive. Rescuers have not found any slide victims alive since Saturday.

“It’s not looking good,” Dombroski said. “We just need news. And we need mother nature to work with us.”

Dombroski said she and her brother grew up in South Texas. He relocated to Washington and has worked as a project manager for Elliott Bay Design Group, a Seattle-based marine architecture and engineering firm, for about 15 years. He has two daughters, both in their early twenties.

Dombroski said her son, a soldier stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, is at the slide site. He has been attending community meetings and funneling back information regarding rescue efforts.

Dombroski said being so far away makes her feel even more helpless.

“You still gotta get through the day,” she said. “Every time the phone rings you’re just hoping for good news.”

— Amy Nile, Herald Writer

* * *

ARLINGTON — Ron deQuilettes first caught her eye at Bible college. They’ve been married 31 years.

He had black hair, dark eyes and a beautiful tan, said his wife, La Rae deQuilettes.

She and one of their grown children were waiting in downtown Arlington on Monday for news.

Ron deQuilettes is an electrician who had a job in Oso on Saturday. The last word from him was a text at 8:30 a.m. that morning.

“I’m here,” he told his wife.

La Rae deQuilettes mistakenly believed the slide happened in Bellingham. She didn’t worry when Ron didn’t come home, thinking he was working late. On Sunday, she realized her mistake and spent that night waiting to see if police would knock on her door in Bothell with the worst news possible.

“What a nightmare, it’s a living nightmare,” she said Monday.

Police told her that the couple who hired her husband also are missing after the slide.

The deQuilettes have four children, the youngest of whom is in high school.

La Rae deQuilettes is trying to be strong for the kids, she said. Her daughter, Ashlee Staub, 29, joined her in Arlington.

Their plan is “wait, hope, try not to lose faith,” La Rae deQuilettes said. “Just hang on to your family and don’t lose faith.”

Without her husband, the family will have no money, she said. Their home electricity business went under during the recession a few years back.

She is trying not to break down, thinking maybe Ron has an air pocket, or is somewhere waiting for rescuers.

“He’s a fighter. He’s tall and strong. He has heart in him like there’s no tomorrow,” she said.

— Dan Catchpole, Herald Writer

* * *

DARRINGTON — John and Frank Hadaway studied a map of the slide area in front of the IGA store in Darrington on Monday searching for the lot where their brother disappeared.

Steve Hadaway, 53, was installing a cable dish at a home on Steelhead Drive when the slide hit. A track of his rig’s GPS shows he arrived at the job at 8:15 a.m. He hasn’t been heard from since.

Two other local men were installing a water heater at the time. William Welsh of Arlington and Steve Neal of Darrington are also missing. The Hadaway brothers, who drove up from Puyallup, were preparing for the worst.

“One way or another, we just want him to come home,” Frank Hadaway said.

Their brother moved to Darrington seven years ago because he loved small towns. He’d text his brothers pictures of Whitehorse Mountain and the picturesque scenery that surrounds the town to try to make them jealous.

Brandy Hadaway, one of the missing man’s two daughters, said there was a soft side to the military veteran.

His wife Marrge would call him “a creampuff Marine,” she said.

— Eric Stevick, Herald Writer

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.