A Bellevue woman is dead and a man is missing as two avalanches swept people away in the Snoqualmie Pass area on Saturday, April 13.

According to a report in the Seattle Times, the woman was identified as Dr. Joy Yu, a naturopathic physician who worked at the Creekside Center for Integrative Medicine in Bellevue.

The accident happened as a group of hikers was caught in an avalanche while they were snow shoeing. The avalanche separated the group. All were able to self rescue with the exception of Yu.

While not part of the group, Yu was walking nearby. Following the avalanche the group realized the woman was missing. They searched and found her about 45 minutes later and dug her out of approximately 5’ of snow. The woman was not moving and was somewhat conscious.

Search and rescue teams hiked in for more than two hours to reach the group. The victim was loaded on a sled and rescuers hiked her out through blizzard like conditions.

At the base medic’s confirmed that the woman had died. The identification of the woman is unknown at this time.

Earlier a different avalanche caught three men hiking to the summit at Granite Mountain off of I-90 at exit 47. One of the hikers said they had no warning, that the snow began to move beneath him following which he and his friends was swept down the mountain.

Two of the three hikers were able to self-rescue and call for help. Other hikers in the area began searching for the missing third hiker to no avail.

King County Sheriff’s Officer Search and Rescue responded and were assisted by numerous other agencies. The search was called off just before dark due to poor visibility and increasingly hazardous weather conditions.

The missing man is a 60 year old experienced hiker from Kent.

As many as 100 search and rescue volunteers and numerous K-9 teams were used in the two searches.