Marysville man presumed dead in helicopter crash

Published 12:09 pm Friday, August 3, 2007

EVERETT – The owner of an Everett timber company is presumed dead after the helicopter he was in crashed Thursday in the Cascades near Easton, east of Snoqualmie Pass, officials said.

Robert Hagerman of Marysville, owner of Formark Forest Marketing Enterprises Inc. of Everett, was aboard the helicopter when it took off from a logging site Thursday, said Kim Bielaczyc, who works in the company office.

Three other people were aboard the helicopter, a pilot and two Korean nationals, customers of the timber company.

All four were believed to have died, but their fate could not be immediately confirmed because it was too dangerous for rescue personnel to reach the wreckage, Kittias County Undersheriff Clayton J. Myers said.

The crash sparked a forest fire that was reported to have grown to 500 acres Friday.