Squalicum graduate served as a flight nurse on a plane that went missing in Alaska
A 30-year-old woman who grew up in Bellingham was serving as a flight nurse on a plane that went missing Monday near Kake, Alaska.
According to an U.S. Coast Guard 17th District Alaska press release, the search for the plane was called off at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Stacie Rae Morse was one of three people aboard the twin-engine King Air aircraft that was flying from Anchorage to Kake, according to a Guardian Flight press release on the search.
“Our hearts are heavy, and we respectfully offer our deepest thoughts and prayers to our lost employees and their families,” Guardian Flight said in the release. “We will miss pilot Patrick Coyle, flight nurse Stacie Rae Morse and flight paramedic Margaret Langston. This tragedy is dreadful for everyone as they were our friends and neighbors.”
A Light the Night remembrance for Morse was scheduled to be held at 6 p.m. Friday at Zuanich Point Park, according to an event posting on Facebook.
Morse graduated from Squalicum High School in 2007, The Bellingham Herald learned in an interview and emails with Brad Killmer, who was Morse’s soccer coach between ages 7 and 16. Her father Tim Morse still lives in Bellingham.
Morse, who went through the nursing program at Whatcom Community College, was known for her intelligence and was “always on the go,” Patric Ethier, who said he was a friend of Morse, told The Herald in an interview Friday.
“She was a risk taker,” Ethier said. “There are people who take risks, and she loved doing that. ... That’s what she was doing serving as a nurse on a flight up in Alaska. She was serving her community, and I think it’s something we should all look at and respect.”
According to Morse’s Facebook page, she moved to Alaska in 2015 and was working as an ER and ICU nurse at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau, as well as a flight nurse for Guardian Flight. A Jan. 16 Instagram post on her account also said she was 26 weeks pregnant, and she had a number of social media posts of herself enjoying Alaska’s outdoors.
According to the Coast Guard release, debris that appeared to be from the plane was located in the 240-square-nautical-mile search area on Wednesday, but no other debris was located in the area Wednesday or Thursday.
“Suspending a search for any reason is one of the most difficult decisions we have to make,” Sector Juneau commander Capt. Stephen White said in the release. “This was an extensive search effort in some very challenging conditions. We are thankful for the assistance from the search and rescue teams, Alaska State Troopers, Army Air National Guard and good Samaritans.”
This story was originally published February 1, 2019 at 5:29 PM.
