OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Olympic National Park officials are searching for a 35-year-old woman who is now missing after getting in the water at Lake Crescent on Monday with an inflatable raft.
Lena Lang of Federal Way was at the lake with a friend but has not been seen since late afternoon Monday, said Patte Danisiewicz, secretary to the superintendent.
The search and rescue operation began after a 9-1-1 call at 5:54 p.m. Monday reporting that Lang was missing.
Park rangers immediately searched by boat, and the U.S. Navy conducted an aerial search Monday. Rangers returned to the lake at 6 a.m. Tuesday and the U.S. Coast Guard continued the aerial search.
“A hasty search found no evidence of the woman in the area of Lake Crescent,” Danisiewicz said in a press release. “NPS resources are being utilized on the [search and rescue] for both water and land searches. Additional resources are being contacted out of Mason County and Kitsap County for assistance.”
She said additional resources are still being determined and that officials are developing a plan to continue the search Wednesday.
The park is asking that anyone who visited the shores of Lake Crescent from Barnes Point to Fairholm on Monday between noon and 6 p.m. and observed the use of a white unicorn personal inflatable raft to call or text Olympic National Park at 888-653-0009.
“We are reaching out to visitors to the lake that may have been there on Monday that may have witnessed something,” she said.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
