CLALLAM COUNTY, Wash. — A man is missing after the kayak he was in overturned on Lake Crescent Friday.
Olympic National Park staff were told that 37-year-old Travis Valenti of New York was kayaking with his fiancée that afternoon when his boat began taking on water. He tried to keep paddling but eventually had to abandon the boat and went into the water.
When his fiancée tried to help, her kayak also overturned and she went into the lake as well. She was able to make it back to shore, but Valenti struggled and did not.
Neither kayaker was wearing a life jacket, according to a news release from the park.
Staff from the nearby Log Cabin Resort quickly took off in a motorboat and began searching the area where Valenti was last seen but he was not found. Bystanders and the victim’s fiancée helped rangers and members of Clallam County Fire District 2 define the area he was last seen, which was estimated to be more than a quarter-mile offshore and about 400 to 500 feet deep.
Rangers searched the lake for more than two hours, but Valenti was not found.
The next day, another search of the area and the shoreline was completed, nut there were no signs of the man.
According to the park, the lake is deep and very cold, with surface water temperatures near 50 degrees at this time of year.
Cold water shock can affect a person’s breathing and ability to move. Read more about the dangers of cold water at this link.