A young woman on a scuba outing died at Glacier National Park/Rebecca Latson file
A young woman scuba diving in Lake McDonald at Glacier National Park died during the outing, while two men appear to have been suicide victims at Mount Rainier National Park.
At Glacier, the 18-year-old Missoula woman was diving with a group on Sunday. At approximately 5:50 p.m., a park ranger responded to a report of a scuba diving accident at Lake McDonald. The young woman was declared dead after resuscitation efforts by members of the diving group and first responders were unsuccessful, a park release said.
The woman was part of a scuba diving group of six people who started their dive near the dock of Lake McDonald Lodge around 4 p.m. At the time of the incident, bystanders drove to Apgar Village for cell signal to call 911. A.L.E.R.T. was first on the scene, about 30 minutes after the initial 911 call. Details of the accident were not available.
A second diver, a 22-year-old male, suffered shortness of breath and was transported by Three Rivers Ambulance to Kalispell Regional Medical Center. He was later flown to Seattle, Washington, for hyperbaric treatment.
The incident is under investigation and names have not yet been released pending next of kin notification.
Lake McDonald is popular among some scuba diving groups because of submerged artifacts. Permits are not required to dive in Glacier National Park and diving equipment is not subject to Aquatic Invasive Species inspections.
At Mount Rainier, rangers on Sunday recovered the bodies of two men from Tolmie Peak, in the northwest corner of the park. The bodies were discovered on Saturday, October 31, by hikers. An investigation, while ongoing, suggests the individuals died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds that occurred during the previous few days.
The victims, ages 29 and 34, were not from western Washington, though the park did not identify their hometowns or names. Because the Mowich Lake Road is closed for the season, access to the area requires an 8.5-mile hike, passing closed gates.
The bodies were flown out by helicopter and turned over to the Pierce County Medical Examiner.
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Comments
Were they found together or are these two seperate incidents? If together, what would so quickly preclude a murder-suicide situation?