Body of Bothell man located on Mount Pugh

Published 12:30 pm Wednesday, May 13, 2026

The body of a 34-year-old Bothell man who was reported missing on May 10 was located a few days later on Mount Pugh outside of Darrington near the western edge of the North Cascades.

The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said the deceased man failed to show up for work on May 10 and deputies then began gathering information. Initial details “led them to believe he had been hiking alone near Mount Pugh,” according to a press release.

A multi-day search immediately commenced after a search and rescue deputy located the hiker’s vehicle at the mountain’s trailhead. The investigation included members of the sheriff’s office, volunteer personnel from Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue, Everett Mountain Rescue, Skagit Mountain Rescue, Tacoma Mountain Rescue, Olympic Mountain Rescue and Seattle Mountain Rescue Units.

In the first 12 hours of the search, hikers descending the trail provided clues that gave searchers a possible last known location of the missing man. With a pair of sheriff’s office helicopters and mountain rescue units working in tandem, they located personal hiking equipment at the top of a steep couloir.

“On the third day of search (May 12), operations mountain rescue teams were inserted via helicopter and were able to work down the couloir where they located the male deceased, 800 vertical feet from where the initial personal hiking equipment was located,” reads the press release.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office will positively identify the man and determine the cause and manner of death.