Alkali Lake searched for man suspected of drowning
Members of Columbia Basin Dive Rescue talk with Grant County Sheriff’s Office deputies and a member of the missing man’s family to make a plan on where to search first.
REBECCA PETTINGILL/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
The Columbia Basin Dive Rescue team goes into the waters of Alkali Lake Sunday afternoon to recover the body of a man who is suspected of drowning Saturday evening.
Columbia Basin Dive Rescue was called in Sunday morning after efforts to recover the missing man were unsuccessful Saturday evening.
Grant County Sheriff's Office staff used jet skis and requested assistnance from LifeFlight to aid in the search for a man who is believed to have drowned in Alkali Lake Saturday evening. A post to GCSO's social media encouraged community members to continue to pray for the man's family.
ALKALI LAKE — Alkali Lake, one of several lakes north of Soap Lake going through the Coulee Corridor, was the site of several searches over the weekend in hopes of recovering a Soap Lake man who was suspected of drowning Saturday evening.
The Grant County Sheriff's Office was called to the lake at about 5 p.m. Saturday by family members who said they saw their 60-year-old relative go into the water and not resurface.
GCSO spokesman Kyle Foreman said they searched the water with jet skis as well as air visual support from LifeFlight but were unable to locate the man. He said at this time the man’s name will not be released until after he is recovered and the family has had time to be notified.
Resources from Grant County Fire District #7 and American Medical Response Grant County also responded Saturday evening.
Foreman said due to the cliffs on both sides of the lake, daylight is lost quicker than in other parts of the county and they had to put the search on hold shortly before 9 p.m. when it was too dark to search.
GCSO returned the next morning and requested Columbia Basin Dive Rescue’s assistance. Columbia Basin Dive Rescue is a not-for-profit, all-volunteer agency based in Richland that provides water rescue and recovery services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to law enforcement, fire, and other emergency service agencies throughout a five-county area, the Dive Rescue’s website states.
Grant County sheriff’s deputies kept the lake area clear until Dive Rescue could arrive around noon. Renew staff were also on scene Sunday afternoon to provide support for the family.
Several family members and good samaritans wanted to search the lake Sunday morning, but Foreman said they asked them not to in order to preserve the lake for the Dive Rescue team and give them the best possible chance at recovery.
“Our experience is, when people drown, when they go under the surface, the body tends to go to the bottom,” Foreman said. “And it stays on the bottom until the body warms up and then it rises to the surface again.”
Foreman explained that the silt and clay that sit at the bottom of the lake make the water unclear which makes it hard to see. He said that while GCSO would continue to help to the best of their abilities, Columbia Basin Dive Rescue was better equipped to locate and recover the missing man and GCSO was appreciative of their assistance.
“We’re hopeful,” Foreman said. “ I think today with the equipment and resources that are coming that’s going to afford us the best chances of making the recovery.”
As of 2 p.m. Sunday, the Columbia Basin Herald had not been notified of a successful recovery. An update to this story will be published once available.
Rebecca Pettingill may be reached at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com.
