INDEX – Searchers using an underwater camera have found the body of Chris Lund, 18, who drowned July 4 in the Skykomish River.
The $1,600 color camera purchased Thursday by Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office search and rescue unit located Lund in about 30 minutes, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Jan Jorgensen said.
Lund of Woodinville was rafting with his younger brother in the Canyon Falls area when they were thrown from the raft, Jorgensen said.
Lund’s teenage brother made it to shore and saw their empty raft downstream after it went over the falls. But he couldn’t see his older brother.
The two were not wearing life jackets. They bought the rubber raft for $15 at a yard sale the day of the accident.
The sheriff’s office dive team searched the lower pool of the falls, and the sheriff’s helicopter searched from the air but were not able to locate Lund’s body.
Search and rescue volunteers also spent dozens of hours looking for him, Jorgensen said.
“The teamwork was extraordinary,” she said. “They were determined to bring some sort of peace to this young man’s family.”
Chris Lund’s body was discovered Thursday in about 30 feet of water at the base of a cliff downstream from Canyon Falls, Jorgensen said.
Firefighters from Gold Bar and Index recovered the body.
Lund was a star soccer player at Woodinville High School, one of seven seniors on his school soccer squad. His teammates voted him the team MVP and most inspirational player.
He also played baseball and roller hockey, had a red belt in karate and loved fishing.
He had talked his family into buying a cabin by the Skykomish River, relatives said. The Fourth of July weekend was the family’s first at their new cabin.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reporter Katherine Schiffner: 425-339-3436 or schiffner@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
