PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Sheriff’s Department is asking recreational users of Lake Sutherland to limit their activities on the lake’s eastern end while dive teams search for the body of a 61-year-old tourist from Wales.
Emergency responders began searching for the man’s body mid-day Friday after rescuers in kayaks were unable to reach him in time, Mike DeRousie, Clallam County Fire District 2 assistant chief, said Friday.
DeRousie said the man’s identity would not be released until the family was notified.
The man was at Lake Sutherland while visiting his girlfriend, who lives in Clallam County, when he went swimming in the lake, DeRousie said.
The man began yelling for help about 150 yards south of the shoreline at Critter Crossing Road on the U.S. Highway 101 side of the lake west of Port Angeles.
DeRousie said a daughter of the man’s girlfriend and a Clallam Fire District No. 2 paramedic who was already at the lake tried to rescue him.
“They jumped in kayaks and paddled as fast as they could, and he slid under before they got to him,” DeRousie said.
Lake Sutherland is up to about 80 feet deep.
Assisting in the search were members of Fire District 2, the Sheriff’s Office, Lower Elwha Klallam tribal police, and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Undersheriff Ron Cameron said the Sheriff’s Office marine unit also launched a lake boat, and a dive team from Kitsap County responded to assist Friday evening.
Cameron said a dive team from Mason County is expected to respond today if necessary.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
