MEADOWDALE — A 17-year-old girl killed Friday after a tree fell on her at Meadowdale Beach Park has been identified as Diana Olidinchuk by a leader at her church.
A Sunday school director from Sulamita Slavic Church in Mukilteo described Diana as “caring and a great role model.” She and her twin sister always stood out for their “bright, glowing blond hair.”
“She was quiet but she was always smiling,” Deacon Nick Tishkov said. “She was a very gentle and nice person.”
A memorial is planned at the church for 7 p.m. Wednesday. The address is 12420 Evergreen Drive, Mukilteo. Her burial is to take place Thursday. To help pay for the service, the family has started a online fundraising page at www.gofundme.com/dianaolidinchuk.
The accident happened shortly before 3 p.m. in the Snohomish County park in unincorporated Edmonds, near Lynnwood.
The girl was with six other young people who split into smaller groups, authorities reported. She was walking with a friend on a side trail between the main walking path and the beach.
The location was about a 10-minute walk from the trailhead. The other young people were unhurt.
The tree that fell on her was was connected to a root ball with other trees that fell.
The side trail where the accident occurred is near Lund’s Gulch Creek and at least 35 feet below the main trail, county parks director Tom Teigen said. The side trails are open to the public. The parks department planned to have an arborist inspect the site Monday.
The park was closed overnight and reopened Saturday morning, Teigen said.
The park has a history of washouts and landslides. It’s still unclear whether wet and windy weather played a role in the death.
About one-third of an inch of rain fell in the Everett area between Thursday and Friday. Though winds were strong early in the day, with gusts of up to 51 mph at nearby Paine Field, they had quieted down to about 10 mph that afternoon.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.
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