Bodies of brothers who vanished on canoe trip month ago pulled from Washington lake

Two brothers took a canoe out on a Washington lake a month ago and vanished, police said. Their bodies were just found.

The brothers, ages 19 and 21, went out on Lake Howard on Jan. 29, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said.

“Witnesses reported they were not wearing life jackets, and no one reported seeing the men in distress or go under water,” deputies said in a Facebook post.

Rescuers searched the lake for the brothers. A dive team and drone operators scoured the area, deputies said.

The canoe was found Jan. 29, but the brothers weren’t. The dive team and the U.S. Coast Guard continued to search the lake for nine days with no luck.

Nearly a month later, on Feb. 24, a dive team located the brothers’ bodies.

“They were transported to shore where the Snohomish County Medical Examiner took custody of them,” deputies said. “The Medical Examiner will provide positive identification of the decedents, as well as determine their cause and manner of death.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 2:01 PM with the headline "Bodies of brothers who vanished on canoe trip month ago pulled from Washington lake."