Missing Snowboarders Found Dead In Their Tent In Washington State After First Snow Melt

Tacoma, WA (AHN) -- The bodies of three snowboarders who have been missing since early December were found Saturday northeast of Mount Ranier in Washington State by friends of the missing men.

The three men were Kevin Carter, 26, Devlin Williams, 29, and Phillip Hollins, 41. Search parties began searching for the men on Dec. 3, when they did not return home. Friends of the snowboarders went to the area on an intermittent basis hoping to find them. With the snow beginning to melt last week, they decided to try again.

That's when one of them spotted the top of a tent. Inside were the three bodies. They are believed to have died after being smothered by an avalanche.

Last winter's avalanches hit particularly hard as heavy snow fall quickly accumulated. The back country, where the men were camping for two days, is where 99.9 percent of avalanches occur according to avalanche.org. Back countries are a danger zone because there is no control over the bowls, peaks, and slopes outside of ski areas.

In avalanche deaths, avalanche.com said 95 percent of those buried by avalanches die within two hours, with half perishing with in the first 25 minutes. Three-quarters die from asphyxiation, caused by breathing their own carbon dioxide. Others die from trauma on the way down a mountain if they are swept away by the avalanche. Two percent die from hypothermia.