(Timothy Ah Koy / Unsplash)
(EVERETT, Wash.) A massive search continued the day after two police officers were thrown from a rescue boat by a rogue wave near Jetty Island on Tuesday, with as many as 13 agencies taking part even as hopes for finding one of the men dimmed.
The two officers, both from the Tulalip Tribal Police Department, were aboard a police patrol boat off of downtown Everett when their vessel was flipped by a rogue wave around 8:30 p.m., according to the Everett Herald.
One of the men was found later Tuesday night by Tulalip fishermen, hypothermic but conscious, but the second officer was not found, and by Wednesday morning tribal officials acknowledged the rescue operation had transitioned to a recovery.
A cold front was passing through the area Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service, with bands of heavy rain dropping as much as an inch of rain on the Everett area and winds up to 30 mph.
The Herald identified the missing officer as Charlie Cortez, 29.
Personnel and vessels from at least 13 agencies including Camano Island Fire and Rescue, Everett Fire, Everett Police, Marysville Fire, Naval Station Everett, Port of Everett, Snohomish County, Tulalip Bay Fire and Tulalip Police aided in the search, according to the Herald.
“As our search-and-rescue mission transitions into a search and recovery, we are heartbroken,” tribe Chairwoman Teri Gobin said in a statement quoted by the Herald. “Our people are connected to the water and we know the risk when we go out. Today we lost a good man, a father, brother and son.”