Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Chehalis Cessna that crashed Monday northeast of Morton was recovered today, NTSB senior air safety investigator Wayne Pollack reported tonight.

Because of the prevailing weather conditions today, the airplane was recovered and well as the bodies, according to Pollack.

The National Transportation Safety Board investigator in charge of the downed plane from the Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute said his team was able to complete their documentation of the accident site.

The wreckage will be examined in detail next week, Pollack said in an email message.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The National Transportation Safety Board investigator in charge of the downed Cessna from Chehalis says they likely will have to use a helicopter to remove the wreckage from the mountains but he still doesn’t know when that will be.

It normally would take place within a few days to a week, but snowy conditions and safety concerns have put retrieval attempts on hold, according to Wayne Pollack, a senior air safety investigator with the NTSB’s Western Pacific Region.

“In this case, as soon as the weather is good enough,” Pollack said yesterday afternoon. “That may be tomorrow, it may be next week.”

Pollack spoke from Los Angeles yesterday. He’s in charge of coordinating the recovery of the plane from Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute that crashed Monday morning northeast of Morton.

Chehalis pilot Ken Sabin, technician Rod Rinta and ophthalmologist Dr. Paul Shenk were onboard the Cessna 340A traveling to Lewiston, Idaho when Sabin reported one engine was down and then radio contact was lost.

Pollack said the NTSB will oversee a contractor which will remove the wreckage to a facility, and there it will be partially reconstructed and scrutinized. The NTSB will conduct a structural, engine and systems examination, Pollack said.

When complete, they will issue a finding of the facts, conditions and circumstances of the accident.

The aircraft was found Tuesday at an elevation of about 3,500 feet in a rugged, wooded area some nine miles northeast of Morton. Approximately a foot of snow was covering it then.

It’s a foot hike in from forest roads on property owned by West Fork Timber. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has described the plane as spread over some 75 to 100 yards.

Pollack said when they are able to get in, they must account for the nose, tail, wings, engines and cockpit.

He said he’s waiting for word from the Lewis County Coroner’s Office that the bodies are removed.

“They’re going to go in first and report back,” he said. “We may have a small (contingent) go with them.”

Morton’s elevation is approximately 900 feet. The National Weather Service forecast for Morton includes various chances of rain or showers through Tuesday and lows in the mid-40s with highs in the mid 50s.

The forecast for the west slopes of the central Cascade Mountains shows snow levels dropping to 4,000 feet on Sunday and headed back up to 9000 to 10,000 feet early next week.

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CORRECTION: This news story was modified at 11 p.m. Friday Oct. 29, 2010 as it initially erroneously attributed the overseeing of a contractor to remove the wreckage, the conducting of an examination and determining the cause of the crash to the wrong agency.

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Read previous news story on the plane crash here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Even though an arrest was made overnight of the person suspected of stealing police badges and guns from Mossyrock’s top law enforcement officer, authorities are still concerned because not everything has been recovered.

Longtime interim Mossyrock Police Department Chief Jeremy Stamper was out of town hunting last weekend when somebody broke into the home on 300 block of Bear Ridge Road and made off with two silver badges, an old police uniform shirt with a patch, three firearms and a broken Tazer gun.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office arrested a 20-year-old in Vader overnight who they say admitted burglarizing the home.

Jeremy Reeves Elliott was booked into the Lewis County Jail  for first-degree burglary, theft of firearms and third-degree theft, according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies recovered the guns and some other valuables but Elliott denied taking the badges, uniform and Tazer, the sheriff’s office reported this morning.

“We are still looking for the badges and uniform and asking the public to call the sheriff’s office if they have any information,” Sheriff Steve Mansfield said in a prepared statement this morning.

Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said it’s a concern, as they don’t want anybody impersonating a police officer.

It’s unlikely anyone could get away with that in the small town of Mossyrock, since most people know what Stamper looks like, she said.

However, she offered this advice: “If somebody has a feeling that something’s not right, that somebody is not a police officer, or if they’re not sure, they could call 911 or ask to see identification,” Brown said.

Brown said Elliott was arrested at his father’s house without incident.

Information from people in the area led deputies to Elliott, and he had previously been renting a room at a home on Bear Ridge Road, she said.

The house is in a remote area where it’s probably not hard to see when residents are home and when they are not, according to Brown.

The family is in the process of moving and Stamper’s wife had been staying in the new home. She returned on Monday to discover the burglary.

The sheriff’s office also recovered the children’s Wii game system and a hunting coat. But still missing are women’s hair accessories, underclothes, children’s’ coats and prescription sleeping pills.

Stamper said yesterday he still has a badge to wear, although not his wallet badge.

It was stolen the week before while he was deer hunting in Chelan County and somebody made off with everything from his campsite, before setting his tent on fire. He doesn’t think the two events are related.

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Read yesterday’s news story on the burglary here

The cause of the fatal fire at Gary Ike's home north of Toledo is still under investigation.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

This news story was updated at 10:24 a.m.

TOLEDO – The cause of the blaze that decimated the small wood-frame house where Gary Ike lived and died is still unknown but one detail stands out: “We have yet to find a smoke detector,” fire investigator Derrick Paul said yesterday.

Paul and fellow investigators were on the scene for hours yesterday looking for what sparked the fire where a man he said was well known in the community, throughout the county, was found dead. He called it a tragedy.

Gary Allen Ike

“(This) is the case in just about every fatality we see, the lack of a working smoke detector,” Paul. “That’s the consistent factor in all of them.”

The two-bedroom home on the 100 block of Nicholson Road in Ethel still stands, but is a total loss after the late Wednesday night fire. Nicholson is a dead-end road off of Oyler Road about a half mile east of Lewis and Clark State Park, north of Toledo.

Gary Allen Ike, 54, lived there alone, according to neighbors. He worked at Home Depot.

Francine Smiley, who has lived around the corner for more than three decades remembers when it was the home of Ike’s father, David Ike – the last full-blooded Cowlitz Indian.

Many are mourning Gary Ike’s passing, she said. “He’s a good guy,” she said yesterday afternoon as she picked up her mail in front of Ike’s house.

The Toledo area fire department was called out at 11:20 p.m. and when the first engine company of volunteers arrived nine minutes later from the Tucker Road station, the structure was fully engulfed in flames, according to fire authorities.

A neighbor across the road smelled smoke and pounded on the front door as he called 911, but the smoke was too thick for him to do more, according to Paul.

Firefighters from Winlock, Vader, Napavine and Salkum joined Lewis County Fire District 2 and worked until almost 3:45 a.m. extinguishing the fire.

Neighbor Diane Sinner said she was just dropping off to sleep when she heard a “boom.”

“I jumped out of bed, my window was just glowing,” she said. “I looked out the window and saw flames,” Sinner said. “We stood out there and watched, and I just prayed I could see him out there. It’s so sad.”

Paul said Ike was found in the rear of the house where the kitchen is.

“The evidence is consistent with someone who’s trying to exit the residence, just couldn’t make it, just couldn’t get to the door,” Paul said.

The Lewis County Coroner’s Office confirmed Ike’s identity and scheduled an autopsy for Monday to determine the cause of his death.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office is working closely with the fire investigators because it was a fatality, according to Paul.

At the nearby St. Mary’s Mission – where Cowlitz Indian Tribal Housing is headquartered – employees were preparing to extend hospitality to Ike’s family, expected to arrive this weekend from all over, according to Bob Bouchard a manager there.

The gathering will likely be large. Ike did volunteer work “everywhere” according to Sheryl Bertucci.

“He’s a member of the Lions Club in Toledo and some other clubs.” Bertucci said. “Everybody knows Gary.”

Fred Eckenberg recalled Ike’s dedication in helping out during pow wows and other tribal activities, being especially dedicated to tribal youngsters.

“He would keep watch over the kids,” Eckenberg said. “He had a manner the kids respected.”

A cousin of Gary Ike’s is among those traveling to Toledo today.

“He’s always happy, always willing to help out, kind to everybody and will – would – do anything for his family,” Suzanne Donaldson-Stephens said as she prepared to depart her home in Washougal.

Ike has a brother and a sister. He had no children, she said.

Services are expected to be announced next week, after the coroner’s office releases her cousin, she said.

They will be held in the gym at St. Mary’s Mission at 107 Spencer Road in Toledo.

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Read yesterday morning’s news story on the fire here.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Somebody broke into the house of Mossyrock’s top law enforcement officer and stole his police badges and guns.

Longtime Mossyrock Police Department interim Chief Jeremy Stamper said  he was out of town hunting and his wife was staying at the new home when it happened sometime over the weekend. The family is in the process of moving, he said.

Sometime between Friday and Monday, somebody forced their way into the basement and forced their way into the upstairs at the home on 300 block of bear Ridge Road in Mossyrock.

Taken along with two silver badges, were an old police uniform shirt, two .22 caliber revolvers, a .22 rifle and a broken Tazer gun. Several other things were stolen, such as  women’s hair accessories, underclothes, coats, the children’s Wii games and prescription medication, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning.

The fear is someone might use them to impersonate a police officer, Stamper said this afternoon.

That’s why the sheriff’s office and myself are concerned,” he said. “That’s the last thing we want.”

Stamper said just the week before, while he was deer hunting in Chelan County, somebody stole all his clothing, gear and wallet, with $400 or $500 cash – and his wallet badge – and then set fire to his camp.

He returned to his camp site on 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 14 to find someone had thrown gasoline on the side of a brand new, expensive wall tent and lit it, he said. He was left with only his rifle because he had that with him, he said.

Stamper doesn’t think the two events are connected.

“I could see maybe stealing stuff, but I don’t see burning my camp down,” he said. “Nobody knows me over there.”

However, he made sure law enforcement in Chelan County is aware of the burglary and the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office is aware of the camp incident.

The sheriff’s office has a suspect in mind concerning the Mossyrock burglary, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown.

Poor weather conditions in the hills above Morton forced a helicopter to shut down its search Monday, and today severe weather is preventing the recovery of the three victims of the Cessna crash.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

This news story was updated at 8:45 p.m.

CHEHALIS – Severe weather conditions and rough terrain are hampering the recovery of the victims of the downed Cessna located yesterday in the mountains northeast of Morton.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office says there is approximately a foot of snow covering the wreckage of the plane from the Chehalis-based Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute.

“As soon as the weather improves, recovery efforts will be made,” Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said in a news release.

The aircraft was found yesterday morning. None of three men on board survived the crash. The Cessna 340A lost radio contact with air traffic control about 7:45 a.m on Monday after the pilot reported one engine was down.

Co-workers are grieving the loss of the two Pacific Cataract employees and their pilot, according to Debbie Eldredge of Pacific Cataract.

“It is hard to find words to adequately express the grief we feel for the families involved,” Eldredge and president of the company, Dr. Robert O. Ford, said to encourage their staff yesterday in a written statement. “Please continue to hold them up in prayer. We are determined to trust God in every circumstance.”

Ken Sabin of Chehalis was their contract pilot. Rod Rinta, 43, a laser technician, is from Chehalis and Dr. Paul Shenk, 69, comes from Woodland.

Eighty ground teams from five counties assisted yesterday in a search and rescue effort led by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

The crash site is at an elevation of 3,500 feet in a rugged, wooded area some nine miles northeast of Morton. Snow was falling when they found it and continued yesterday. The plane broke apart on impact and is spread over some 75 to 100 yards, according to Brown.

It’s on private forest land, owned by West Fork Timber, Brown said. Their employees, along with workers from Port Blakely joined the search dogs, ATVs and others in the efforts at rescue and recovery.

Four Lewis County Coroner’s Office employees in a four-wheel drive Ford Explorer were led up a slippery logging road yesterday when the weather turned and they were told to turn around.

“We got three to four miles from the site and got word to head out,” Chief Deputy Coroner Dawn Harris said.

It remains unsafe to make another attempt today, according to the sheriff’s office.

The news of no survivors was a devastating blow to a close-knit company, according to Eldredge.

Pacific Cataract keeps a handful of planes at the Chehalis-Centralia Airport to fly surgeons to satellite clinics. The twin-engine plane was heading for Lewiston, Idaho.

Laser technician Rod Rinta

Rinta is remembered for his energy and enthusiasm for life, his cheerful outlook and love of working on and maintaining the lasers used throughout the organization, Eldredge said in a news release yesterday.

Dr. Shenk, an ophthalmologist, was one of the most experienced LASIK surgeons in the country, according to Eldredge.

Dr. Paul Shenk

“(He) is remembered for his soft-spoken words and kindness to everyone, his humble manner and how he made people feel special and earned their trust,” she wrote.

Pacific Cataract called Sabin a dependable pilot who was more than trustworthy.

“Ken Sabin is remembered for his professional conduct at all time, his gentle manner, punctuality and conscientious attention to detail,” Eldredge wrote.

Sabin, who retired from Security State Bank in recent years, has more than 40 years experience as a pilot and has been a member of the Centralia-Chehalis Airport Governing Board for about five years, according to airport manager Allyn Roe.

In a prepared statement today, the board wrote: “Ken’s life was one of selfless giving to his community and love of aviation, and while we celebrate a wonderful life and salute his achievements – we will miss him tremendously.”

No accident of this magnitude has been connected with the airport since Roe was hired in 2007, the airport manager said.

On Monday morning, after the office was notified by the Federal Aviation Administration, one of the first things Roe did was check an online flight tracking system to see the altitude, speed and other details recorded for the Cessna’s flight.

It’s a useful web site the airport uses daily – flightaware.com – but in this case the information was flawed, Roe said.

“Sometimes it does get anomalies and in this case there is an anomaly,” he said.

The six-seater plane would have been expected to travel at about 15,000 feet, according to Roe.

While Pacific Cataract has some jets in its fleet, this was not one of them, he said. The FAA registry shows the Cessna was manufactured in 1982.

FAA Regional spokesperson Allen Kenitzer said today investigators from both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will go to the crash scene, as soon as conditions allow.

“Not much is known at this time,” Kenitzer said.

The FAA will check the plane, its logs, the pilot logs and pilot’s history and turn its information over to the  NTSB, he said.

The NTSB will examine the aircraft and determine the likely cause of the crash, he said.

A Cessna 340A similar to the one that went down Monday in East Lewis County.