After 3 days, ‘extensive’ search for missing swimmer on southern Lake Whatcom continues
Three days of “extensive” searching at the southern end of Lake Whatcom still have not located a man who went missing while swimming off a boat last weekend.
The missing swimmer has been identified as a 37-year-old man from Bellingham, Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Deb Slater told The Bellingham Herald in an email Wednesday, July 13.
Slater called the three-day search efforts “extensive,” adding that resources from the sheriff’s office Marine Unit, Summit to Sound Search and Rescue, Whatcom County Divers Search and Rescue, K-9 units from Pierce and Snohomish counties and South Whatcom Fire have participated.
“Search efforts will be continuing as additional resources become available,” Slater wrote Wednesday.
The search began after the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office was called at approximately 7 p.m. Sunday, July 10, for the report of a man who went missing while swimming in south Lake Whatcom, Slater told The Herald Monday in an email1.
South Whatcom Fire Authority crews were called to aid Whatcom County Fire District 18, South Whatcom Chief Rod Topel told The Herald.
Private boats and other search and rescue personnel aided in the search, Slater reported.
The emergency crews were needed, Topel said, after a swimmer from a boat could no longer be found.
“It appears somebody jumped off the boat to go swimming, and the boat operators monitoring the swimmer lost sight of them,” Topel said. “They went back and couldn’t locate the swimmer.”
Topel said a search boat with sonar had been requested Sunday, and the Bellingham Police Department also was on scene with a drone to aid in efforts to find the missing swimmer.
