Kayaker vanishes in national park lake after fiancee tries to save him, WA officials say
UPDATE: Travis Valenti’s body was found and recovered from Lake Crescent on June 21, according to the National Park Service.
The original story is below.
A 37-year-old kayaker disappeared in a Washington lake after his fiancee tried to rescue him, officials said.
Travis Valenti of Massapequa, New York, was kayaking with his fiancee at about 2:10 p.m. June 9 in Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park, officials said in a June 13 news release.
They were close to Log Cabin Resort near Port Angeles.
While on the lake, Valenti’s kayak began filling with water, so he tried to paddle until he could no longer, park officials said.
Then he went into the water.
His fiancee saw him struggling and tried to save him, but her kayak flipped, officials said.
She swam to the shoreline, but Valenti vanished in the water, officials said. Neither person was wearing a life jacket.
Resort staff went on the lake with a motorized boat and tried to find him where he was last seen in the water, about a quarter mile from the shore. They couldn’t find Valenti.
Then rescuers with the Clallam County Fire District 2 spent two hours searching the area for Valenti. They also searched for him the next day and couldn’t find him, officials said.
Park officials said the lake is a “deep and very cold body of water.”
“Sudden immersion into cold water will impact a person’s breathing and over time, their ability to move extremities,” officials said.
They warned swimmers to use a buddy system while in the water and to always wear a life jacket.
Port Angeles is about 85 miles northwest of Seattle.
This story was originally published June 13, 2023 at 3:10 PM with the headline "Kayaker vanishes in national park lake after fiancee tries to save him, WA officials say."
