Man’s fatal plunge marks third death at Washington waterfall in 2 years, deputies say
Authorities are warning adventurers to follow swimming and water safety tips after a man died at a Washington waterfall over the weekend — the third fatality at the spot in less than two years.
The 26-year-old man died after slipping and falling over the Cedar Ponds falls Saturday afternoon, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.
Heather Chadwick of Snohomish County Fire District 7 said it took rescue crews more than an hour to get to the man in Youngs Creek, according to KOMO. A Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said the falls the man plunged over were 20 to 30 feet high, KOMO reported.
“The man’s friend and witnesses tried pulling the man up using a rope, but he fell again just as fire crews were arriving, according to the sheriff’s office,” KOMO reported, adding that “at the time he was rescued, the man had been unconscious in the water for more than an hour, the sheriff’s office official said. The sheriff’s office said alcohol did play a role in this incident.”
Deputies pulled the man from the water and took him to Evergreen Hospital in critical condition, according to Fire District 7, but the man died.
The Everett Herald identified the man as Michael S. Guzman of Monroe and reported that he “died of blunt trauma to the head, according to the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office. It was determined to be an accident.”
A second man also slipped at the falls Saturday around 4 p.m. but managed to save himself, deputies said.
Snohomish County authorities warned that currents in local waterways are fast-moving, meaning adventure-seekers should “consider the following safety tips before exploring our county’s waterways:
• Always wear a life jacket when you are on the water. Never go near moving water without one.
• Have a plan and share it with an adult. Plans should include what time you are leaving, what time you expect to be back and where you are going. Include what time someone should call 911 if you don’t return.
• Never swim while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
• Beach logs, river banks and rocks near the shore are usually slippery. A fall can knock you unconscious and prevent you from being able to save yourself.
• Consider bringing a whistle. If you are in trouble, it could help alert nearby people.
• Keep kids within arm’s reach. Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 14 and under.
• Don’t dive in. Two-thirds of catastrophic neck injuries occur in open water and the sea.”
The two earlier deaths at the falls involved a 28-year-old Everett woman who drowned at the same spot — but whose body couldn’t be found until the following day because of dangerous conditions — and a 22-year-old Monroe woman who drowned in April 2018.
The Monroe woman’s body wasn’t found until 10 days later, when a friend spotted the body “tangled up in a ‘strainer,’ a debris pile of logs and branches,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
This story was originally published October 1, 2019 at 12:01 PM with the headline "Man’s fatal plunge marks third death at Washington waterfall in 2 years, deputies say."
