Seattle Deputy Fire Chief Jay Schreckengost was found deceased in the mountains near Cliffdell in Kittitas County on Sunday afternoon. Schreckengost went scouting for elk on Tuesday Nov. 2 and never returned. Since that day, search and rescue teams involving 60 different professional and volunteer agencies and organizations spent thousands of hours looking for him.
There was no preliminary evidence of suspicious activity or foul play, Sheriff Clay Myers said. The chief was found about a half mile from the spot where his pickup was parked on the day he went hunting. Chief Schreckengost’s family and the Seattle Fire Department were notified immediately that he was found.
The Kittitas county coroner responded with the Sheriff’s Office and will complete the investigation to confirm the chief’s cause of death. The chief’s family and members of the Seattle Fire Department escorted Chief Schreckengost to Johnston and Williams funeral home in Ellensburg with the Coroner.
Sheriff Clay Myers stated: “We’re saddened to give news of Chief Schreckengost’s passing to his family and fellow firefighters, and we ask the public and press to respect their privacy as they grieve his loss. We also want to thank everyone who participated in or supported this search. It was a tremendous outpouring of resources and effort that produced a vital result: a family knows what happened to their loved one and he can be brought home to them.”
