KITTITAS COUNTY, Wash. — Seattle Deputy Fire Chief Jay Schreckengost was found dead on Sunday, concluding a 12-day search after he failed to return home from a hunting trip.
Schreckengost, 56, was located in the mountains near Cliffdell in Kittitas County on Sunday evening, just about a half-mile from the spot where his pickup truck was parked on Nov. 2, the day he went hunting, Fox News reported.
Preliminary investigation reveals there is no evidence of foul play, according to the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office, which had led the wide scale search.
Schreckengost set out on a central Washington trip scouting for elk 13 days ago. He’s been the subject of a massive search involving 60 different agencies since he failed to return from the trip, according to the sheriff’s office.
Moreover, the Seattle Fire Department said 160 of its members had traveled to the site in Washington, “determined to find our beloved member.”
“We’re saddened to give news of Chief Schreckengost’s passing to his family and fellow firefighters, and we ask the public and press to respect their privacy as they grieve his loss,” Kittitas County Sheriff Clay Myers said in a statement. “We also want to thank everyone who participated in or supported this search. It was a tremendous outpouring of resources and effort that produced a vital result: a family knows what happened to their loved one and he can be brought home to them.”
Schreckengost was described as an avid outdoorsman. He was also a 36-year veteran of the Seattle Fire Department, Fox reported.
“We are incredibly saddened by this news and are all grieving the loss of one of our own,” the Seattle Fire Department said in a statement. “Deputy Chief Schreckengost was a husband, father and friend to all, and our hearts are with his family right now who have been at the site every day searching alongside search and rescue, fire and law enforcement agencies.
“While the outcome is not what we would have hoped, we know that this will bring closure to Jay’s family, friends and colleagues. We will always remember you Jay, you are forever in our hearts.”
Further details were not immediately available. A cause of death is pending an investigation by the Kittitas County coroner who responded to the site.
