Body of missing Whatcom man swept away in floodwaters believed to be found Wednesday
The body of a missing Everson man who was swept away by Whatcom County floodwaters early Monday is believed to have been found, according to Deb Slater, a spokesperson with the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.
At around 1:05 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 17, search and rescue volunteers, along with members of the Everson Police Department and sheriff’s office, found a man’s body in a wooded area in the 600 block of Main Street in Everson, Slater reported.
The body is believed to be that of Jose Garcia, 49, who was reported missing Monday by his family, according to previous reporting in The Bellingham Herald.
The final cause of death will be determined by the Whatcom County Medical Examiner, according to Slater.
“Jose was loving and caring and always was all about his family,” Sheila Mata told The Bellingham Herald Wednesday. Mata’s sister is dating Jose Garcia’s son.
Mata said Jose Garcia was hard-working and spent as much time with his children as he could. She said the family enjoyed building memories on small trips.
Mata said Jose Garcia had lived in Everson for several years and worked at a dairy farm in Sumas.
“Jose is an incredible person, father and husband. He always brought out smiles — something we won’t ever forget,” Mata said.
Dulce Garcia told The Herald that her father was driving to work between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 15, when he called her mother to warn them the flooding in the area was bad. Dulce Garcia said her father told her mother to send help because the current was taking him away, and the family told him to hold on to whatever he could while they called for help.
Jose Garcia told his family he was holding on to a nearby tree between O’Reilly’s Auto Parts and Nooksack Valley Middle School, Dulce Garcia said.
Everson police said in a press release Tuesday, Nov. 16, that Jose Garcia’s son reported his father’s vehicle was swept by the current into a field north of East Main Street.
A resident on Shuksan Street, which is west of the field, called 911 shortly before 6:15 a.m. on Monday and told operators he could hear someone yelling in the field behind his residence. The man told authorities he couldn’t make out what the person was saying, but he yelled back and called 911, the press release states.
At around 10 or 11 a.m., Dulce Garcia said Everson police found her father’s truck, but he was not with the vehicle.
Jose Garcia’s family, friends and community continued to search for him throughout the week until his body was found.
Mata thanked the community for their help and support in searching for Jose Garcia. Mata criticized the system for not providing the Garcia family more help, saying multiple family members and friends had to repeatedly call 911 in an attempt to get help searching for Jose Garcia. Mata said it was only family, friends and volunteers out helping to look until much later in the day Monday.
“We, unfortunately, didn’t get as much attention as we needed from the police and search and rescue, but our neighbors, friends and family members stepped up to support and search for Jose,” Mata said.
Daniel MacPhee, police chief for Everson and Nooksack, said Thursday, Nov. 19, that Everson police received the Garcia family’s 911 call shortly after 4 a.m. on Monday. He said the officer the call was sent to was currently on another water rescue due to the flooding in the area at that time, but advised the 911 dispatcher to reach out to search and rescue officials.
MacPhee said at the time Jose Garcia got swept away, the floodwaters on Main Street in Everson were at least five feet deep, and were likely around seven feet deep in the field Jose Garcia was swept into. He also said the current in the area was incredibly strong.
MacPhee said his department of six officers, as well as Whatcom County Fire Department District 1, are not trained in swift-water rescue, so they had to rely on search and rescue teams. He said at the peak of the flooding, Everson police had more than 50 open 911 calls for rescue, and resources, including for the search and rescue teams, were spread thin.
“Obviously we were aware of the situation and we were aware of the location, but there was no way to get any visual on there,” MacPhee said Thursday. “We had a catastrophic event, in the city of Nooksack and the city of Everson and also the city of Sumas, and so search and rescue crews and personnel were all spread incredibly thin all over just responding to as many of these emergencies as we can.”
He said by Tuesday, search and rescue officials were on the scene looking for Jose Garcia. A Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office statement Tuesday evening said search and rescue deputies, Everson Police officers, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter, search dogs, several drones and volunteers from Summit to Sound Search and Rescue and Whatcom County 4x4 Unit were involved in the search.
MacPhee said numerous family members, friends and community members also volunteered to help in the search.
“We have an incredible community. It’s a small community, but it’s incredibly tight-knit and we’ve got a great community,” he said.
By Wednesday morning, the water had receded in the area and groups of search and rescue teams, made up of officials and roughly 150 community volunteers, spread out throughout the area to search for Jose Garcia, he said. Community members found Jose Garcia’s body in a wooded area near the 600 block of Main Street.
“This was an event that no one expected and a flood event that we’ve never seen,” MacPhee said. “This was a catastrophic event for a number of different communities and we deployed every resource we had, and this is an incredibly sad situation.”
MacPhee said no other missing persons, serious injuries or deaths have been reported to Everson police in regards to the flooding.
A GoFundMe account has been set up for the Garcia family. The money will go towards supporting the family in their need and to help put Jose Garcia to rest, Mata said.
This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 3:23 PM.
