A veteran troop with the Washington State Patrol died in an avalanche on Monday, authorities said.
Steve Houle, a 28-year veteran of the Army, was snowmobiling with another man when the avalanche hit the French Cabin Creek area, the local sheriff’s office told KOMO-TV.
The other rider was able to get out to safety, but Houle was found dead later that day, the report said.
“Steve was a wonderful person and an excellent employee, loved and respected by all of us,” WSP chief John Batiste said in a statement.
“We hold his memory and his family close to our hearts in this painfully sad time,” the principal said.
Deadly avalanches are common in the US this season. Just last week, 15 people across the country were killed by natural disasters – according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, the most in a seven-day period since 1910.