Kittitas County – On Sunday, Jay Schreckengost’s family finally received some answers about what happened to him. Search crews found Schreckengost’s body just a half mile from where his truck was found about two weeks ago on forest service road 1703.
The Seattle deputy fire chief disappeared on November 2. The last his family heard from him was when he texted them saying he was going elk hunting near Cliffdell. At this time, the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office said there is no evidence of suspicious activity or foul play.
According to them, 60 different agencies and organizations helped in the search for Schreckengost over a span of 12 days.
I reached out to them to see how he was found but was told they would only release this statement from Sheriff Clay Myers for now:
“We’re saddened to give news of Chief Schreckengost’s passing to his family and fellow firefighters…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.”
Sunday night, Yakima firefighters said goodbye to Schreckengost as his body was taken to Ellensburg. The Kittitas County coroner will preform an autopsy on Friday to determine Schreckengost’s cause of death.
The Seattle Fire Department also released a statement on the deputy chief’s passing.
“We are incredibly saddened by this news and are all grieving the loss of one of our own. Deputy Chief Schreckengost was a husband, father and friend to all, and our hearts are with his family right now who have been at the site every day searching alongside search and rescue, fire and law enforcement agencies.”
The Department said they would not comment further at this moment to allow his family to grieve.
