A 76-year-old man from Shoreline drowned on Saturday (Sept. 14) while swimming at Pearrygin Lake State Park near Winthrop, Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers reported.
Charles J. Covello had been swimming when another person saw Covello go under the water and not come back up. Calls for emergency assistance went out at about 4 p.m. The sheriff’s office and Aero Methow Rescue Service responded.
Rogers said that two other people at the lake had found Covello in the water and brought him to shore, by which time he had been under water for five to 10 minutes. Attempts to revive Covello were unsuccessful, Rogers said.
The sheriff’s office responded to several other calls in the valley over the weekend, including:
• On Saturday, family members reported that Shane E. Hendrickson, 53, of Olympia, had gone hiking, possibly on the Cathedral Lake Trail near Mazama, and had not returned as expected. Deputies checked several areas and trailheads looking for Hendrickson’s vehicle but were unable to find it. At about 6:20 p.m., Hendrickson’s family called to report that he had actually been hiking near Twisp Pass and had become disoriented but eventually found his own way out, Rogers said.
• Also on Saturday, it was reported that a 45-year-old woman had possibly broken her leg in an accident while riding a mountain bike on the Cedar Creek Trail west of Mazama. She was able to make it back to the trailhead and was treated at the scene, then taken to a hospital in a private vehicle, Rogers said.
• Late in the day on Saturday, it was reported that a 24-year-old woman had possibly broken her ankle while hiking in a boulder field near Lewis Lake, at Rainy Pass on Highway 20. The woman, with assistance from other hikers, made it to the trailhead on her own, Rogers said.
Rogers said this his office has had 20 search and rescue calls this year and 12 have come in the last 30 days.
