Teen who died after falling through ice at lake identified

A 15-year-old boy who fell through the ice and plunged into the frigid waters of Martha Lake Tuesday has died.

Seth James was a sophomore at Mountlake Terrace High School. He was enrolled in the Terrace Academy of Arts and Sciences.

“Extra counseling staff are on hand to help out both the staff and students with this tragic loss,” said Debbie Jakala, an Edmonds School District spokesman.

A Snohomish County sheriff’s diver found the boy about two hours after neighbors reported hearing cries for help coming from the lake about 9:20 p.m. Paramedics attempted to revive the boy, but he was pronounced dead at Providence Everett Medical Center, Snohomish County Fire District 1 spokeswoman Leslie Hynes said.

Jakala said another boy who was involved in the tragedy also is a student in the Edmonds School District.

A second teen who fell through the ice was in stable condition this morning at the hospital. A neighbor used a canoe to reach the boy and bring him to safety. A third boy had already walked off the ice and was on shore when firefighters arrived, Hynes said.

A technical rescue team, sheriff’s deputies and a volunteer search-and-rescue crew launched an elaborate search to for the missing teen, who was thought to have fallen through the ice about 50 yards off shore.

Their efforts were hampered by freezing and dark conditions. They used oars and sharp poles from nearby fire engines to break through ice. Rescuers estimated that the water was about 37 degrees and the ice was about three-quarters of an inch thick at its thickest point.

At its deepest point, Martha Lake is close to 50 feet. The area where the boy went through the ice is about 30 feet deep.

The boy was found near where he feel in, sheriffs spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said.

Also assisting in the search was crews from Edmonds Fire Department, Fire District 7, King County and Pierce County sheriff’s dive teams.

Herald writer Eric Stevick contributed to this report