SEATTLE (AP) - An off-duty Washington State Patrol trooper who had been missing in the remote and avalanche-prone North Cascade mountains was found alive and in good condition Tuesday night, officials said.
Rescue crews had been looking for Dan Anderson since the 46-year-old activated his emergency signal beacon Sunday.
Anderson, a 21-year veteran of the patrol, set out Friday with two friends on mountain bikes, then continued alone by snowshoe, planning to spend Saturday night at Lyman Lake before reaching Holden Village, near the north end of Lake Chelan, on Sunday. Heavy rain fell across the state over the weekend.
Crews, assisted by helicopters, followed what they believed to be Anderson's snowshoe tracks at the 4,000-foot level of a drainage near a creek. Earlier Tuesday, they had been stymied by mushy snow.
"The tracks went back and forth (upstream and downstream), suggesting he was perhaps trying to find a place to cross the creek," Snohomish County sheriff's spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said.
A crew found Anderson at around 9 p.m. near where they had concentrated their search. Officials said Anderson was being flown down Tuesday night, then being driven to his home and to his family by a fellow state trooper after a stop at the search-and-rescue command post.
According to The Herald newspaper of Everett, Anderson is a former Marine and Special Forces soldier with extensive experience as a back country hiker. He also served on the Arlington City Council from January 2001 to March 2006.
He lives in Marysville with his wife and two sons.