The body of a snowmobiler buried in an avalanche in the mountains of Washington state on Monday has been recovered and identified as a longtime state trooper.
(Photo by JOHANN GRODER/EXPA/AFP via Getty Images)
February 09, 2021
8:55 AM ET
Font Size:
A Washington state trooper was killed in an avalanche Monday, days after the U.S. marked its deadliest week for avalanches.
Search and rescue teams found 51-year-old Steve Houle, a 28-year veteran of the Washington State Patrol (WSP), after responding to reports of “two subjects overcome by an avalanche,” the Kittitas County Sheriff’s office said in a press release.
WSP has confirmed that Trooper Steve Houle, a 28 year veteran of the WSP is the victim of the avalanche incident and has been found deceased. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family, friends and coworkers as they process the loss of a father, husband and friend.
State Trooper Killed by Avalanche in Washington
On 2/9/21 at 11:02 AM EST
A 51-year-old Washington State Patrol trooper was found dead after getting caught in an avalanche while snowmobiling near Cle Elum on Monday, authorities said.
Trooper Steve Houle, a 28-year veteran of the state patrol s commercial vehicle division, went missing during an avalanche near the French Cabin Creek area and Knox Creek trailhead, the Kittitas County Sheriff s Office said.
In a news release, the sheriff s office said authorities had received reports of two men who had gone missing in the avalanche at around 12:40 p.m. One of the men was able to dig himself out and hiked to safety before calling for help, it added.
Washington State Patrol trooper killed in Cascades avalanche KOMO News Staff UP NEXT
CLE ELUM, Wash. (KOMO) A veteran of the Washington State Patrol was killed during an avalanche in the Cascades Monday afternoon.
Trooper Steve Houle was riding snowmobiles with a friend in the French Cabin Creek area just before 1 p.m. when the avalanche occurred, according to the Kittitas County Sheriff s Office.
Both men were overtaken by the snow as it hit near the Knox Creek Trailhead. The friend was able to dig himself out and made his way back to the French Cabin Creek snopark to call for help. Search and rescue crews spent hours looking for Houle, eventually finding the 51-year-old trooper s body around 7 p.m.
A Washington state trooper was killed in an avalanche while snowmobiling, officials say
Search-and-rescue crews recovered trooper Steve Houle, 51, of Cle Elum from the avalanche. He was a 28-year veteran of the Washington State Patrol, the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office said in the release.
He is at least the 15th person to die in an avalanche in little more than a week. The first seven days of the month marked a record for the deadliest week of US avalanches.
“On behalf of the Sheriff’s Office, I would like to extend our deepest condolences to Trooper Houle’s family, friends and the Washington State Patrol,” Sheriff Clay Myers said. “This is a tragic accident and will be felt hard in our close-knit law enforcement community.”