Bellevue teens killed in Sunday Snoqualmie avalanche identified | Update

Weather conditions were so bad searchers couldn’t begin looking for them until Monday morning.

The King County Sheriff’s Office recently announced two teenage boys who were killed in an avalanche at Snoqualmie Pass over the weekend were from Bellevue.

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office reports those teens were Niko Suokko, 18, and Declan Ervin, 17. Ervin attended International School in Bellevue, Bellevue School District spokeswoman Eileen Harrity confirmed Tuesday. Suokko attended Interlake High School after transferring from International School.

The teens went snowshoeing Sunday night in the Alpental/Snow Lake area of Snoqualmie Pass in the backwoods, the Sheriff’s Office reported Monday.

Although one of the teens was an experienced snowshoer and both were wearing avalanche beacons, their parents were forced to call 911 at around 9 p.m. Sunday after they did not return home as expected.

But because weather conditions were so treacherous, searchers were unable to search for the boys that night.

At around 8 a.m. Monday morning, King County Search and Rescue crews began searching.

With the help of GPS on one of the teen’s phones, searchers were able to get a longitude/latitude of where they were generally located at around 11 a.m.

The King County Sheriff’s Office said, at one point, the searchers themselves had to pull out because of another avalanche that they were concerned would occur. When search and rescue was able to go back to the area a short time later they found the teens. An avalanche had killed them.

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office disclosed both had died from accidental asphyxia due to entrapment beneath the snow.