Swiftwater Search for Missing 3 Year Old
DEM # 97-1431
August 11, 1997
Mike Mixon patrols in his Kayak to protect other rescuers
The unit was contacted by the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management at
6:30 A.M. Monday the 11th of August. The Sheriff's Department had ask for any
swiftwater qualified members to respond to the Orting Fire Department. They were
needed to help search for a missing 3 year old girl lost in the Puyallup River on
Sunday, and five rafters Who were over due on the Nisqually river.
Brandi Blake, the little girl's mother and her boyfriend and two other children aged
3 and 5 years, had decided to go rafting on the Puyallup river to escape the local
heat wave. They had gone less than a quarter mile down river in a small raft not made
for running a swift flowing river like the Puyallup. When the raft flipped at the
tail end of some moderate rapids in water that was eight to 12 feet deep all the
occupants surfaced except Stephanie. None of the occupants of the raft were wearing
life vests, Brandi and the children had never been rafting, and had no experience
with swift water. They were able to save two of the three children but the third,
little Stephanie Courville, was nowhere to be found.
Also on Sunday five rafters, two children and three adults, had set out from McKenna
to float the Nisqually river basically all the way to Puget Sound. They had consulted
some local people who informed them that the trip should take about three hours. In
reality, this trip at present flow levels would actually take more than ten hours.
The party was divided between two small inflatable light duty recreational rafts. It
appears that the children had personal flotation devices, the status of the adults
safety gear is unknown.
Sheriff and Fire Department personnel trained in swift water rescue searched till
nightfall on Sunday. More than fifty searchers including eight members of Tacoma
Mountain Rescue responded by 8:00 A.M. Monday morning. The TMRU members who
responded were. Mike Mixon, Chris Berryman, Jeff Sharp, John Kirkman, Jim Andrues,
Jim Lewis, Pat Lillie and Dave Wright.
Rainier One was launched from helibase by 0900 hrs. on Monday 11 August and flew
to Western, a private airstrip in McKenna for instructions and information from Pierce
County Sheriff SAR coordinators prior to starting the search of the river. The crew
consisted of pilot Bob Hoffman, Senior Crew Chief Jeff Sharp, and Student, Primary
Crew Chief Jim Andrues. Initially, TMRU members Chris Berryman and Pat Lillie were
to be the rescue team. As no co-pilot responded to the call out, Jeff moved to the
left seat, and Pat became Senior Crew Chief.
It became apparent to the rafters that after more than three hours on the river, they
were less than half way to their desired take out. They were being overtaken by
darkness, so they wisely beached their crafts and prepared to spend the night out.
To their credit, the party had left an itinerary with a wife of one of the adults
indicating that they should be off the river by 1930 hrs.
According to news reports, the party did have food and water, but had planned on
this only being a day trip,. On arrival at search base TMRU member Jim Lewis and
PCSD Deputy J Sousley joined the crew as additional rescue team members.
The aircraft was configured to support helirappel and short-haul operations, and as
they launched the Sheriff's fixed wing reported a possible sighting of a raft. The
fixed wing flew high cover and directed them to the raft which did fit the
description of one of the craft which the party had used; they located the raft and
landed in a nearby cow pasture. As they landed, a group of people were spotted at a
fence near the end of the pasture.
After landing, Pat departed the helicopter and made contact with the people at the
fence line. An inquiry was made as to whether this was the missing party, and the
answer was in the affirmative. Everyone was in good health. The party had made a
call from a cell phone to arrange a pick up and return. At this point we re-packed
gear and departed to Orting.
Mike Mixon, Dave Wright and John Kirkman had responded at 8:00 A.M. to the Orting FD.
The search scene on the Puyallup River
Search base was then shifted to a spot on the Puyallup river, about 1 mile below town.
Also on the scene, were Orting FD, Pierce Co Sheriffs, Puyallup FD, Buckley FD and
Thurston Co Sheriffs dept. A briefing was held and teams were assigned to various
tasks. TMR was assigned to be "safety". Dave and John donned gear and throw bags
and proceeded to approximately 50 yards down river of the search operations. Mike
climbed into his kayak and patrolled the river immediately below the search scene.
The searching was performed by using a 4-pt boat tether, with the two searchers in
the boat probing beneath the water (approx. 9' deep) to explore the area around
roots and rocks.
At approximately 10:00 A.M., Rainier 1 arrived, bringing Pat Lillie and Jim Lewis as
swift-water searchers. Jeff Sharp and Jim Andrues stayed as crew for the helo.
Patrick, along with Jim Lewis and several others, began a boat-based search in a
second location, approximately 30 yards down river from the first point of interest.
Dave Wright rotated into position in the upper boat, to begin probing. After completing
the initial search of the lower area, Pat's team continued down river, performing a
swimming search and discovered the victim.
Afterwards, all searchers feasted on the food generously provided by businesses in
Orting. A quick debrief was then held in the Orting fire-hall and everyone was
dismissed.
Editors note: Both Mike Mixon and Pat Lillie submitted reports for this article.
Also all pictures used in both of the above articles were video captured from KSTW and
KING news footage.
