Sheriff IDs 3 climbers killed in Washington state avalanche

By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — A sheriff’s office in Washington state has released the identities of three climbers killed in an avalanche on a remote, jagged peak in the Cascade Mountains. The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday the victims were Seong Cho, a 54-year-old male Korean citizen from West Hartford, Connecticut; Jeannie Lee, a 60-year-old woman from Bayside, New York; and Yun Park, a 66-year-old man from Palisades Park, New Jersey. They were killed Sunday as they ascended a steep, snow-packed gulley on Colchuck Peak, east of Seattle. Three other members of their climbing party survived. Authorities said the victims were members of a climbing club based in New Yori.