A woman was still missing Sunday night hours after falling into the Carbon River under the Fairfax Bridge in Pierce County, according to the sheriff's department.
The woman in her late 20s fell with her dog around 11:45 a.m. Sunday south of Carbonado. The woman's girlfriend watched her partner get swept away in the strong current, Deputy Carly Cappetto said, adding that the river was running high and especially dangerous.
"Anyone near the bottom could easily slip and be gulped up by the current and intense water flow," Cappetto said in an email.
First responders used drones to search the river and located the dog about a quarter-mile away. Responders were able to rescue the dog using a system of ropes.
Rescue teams searched for the woman who had fallen for about 1.5 miles of the river's length, with crews prepared downstream, Cappetto said. A Coast Guard helicopter was initially en route to the scene but did not make it because visibility was too limited to fly safely.
A chaplain responded to the scene and was consoling the missing woman's girlfriend.
The search was suspended around 6:15 p.m. Sunday "due to the weather, terrain and darkness," Cappetto said.
Carbon River is fed by a glacier and melting snow off an arm of Mount Rainier.
If the weather permits this week, the search will resume.
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