PORT ANGELES – The identity of the 31-year-old woman who died while visiting Lake Crescent Thursday evening has been released by the Clallam County Coroner’s Office. Here’s Coroner Mark Nichols:
“So I can confirm that the Clallam County coroner’s office is working on the case involving the tragic death of a female at Lake Crescent. Family has been notified and we’re glad to confirm for the community the identity of the decedent as Amelia Bethke. And so at this point in time, we do have a Coroner’s hold in connection with this case and we’ll be working with a forensic pathologist to conduct an autopsy in hopes of learning more about the manner and cause of death. Once we receive that information we’ll be able to release a bit more of it to the community and then also provide that to the forensic pathologist, so they have that context in relation to the examination that they’ll be performing.”
A friend of Bethke, a resident of Bellingham, called 911 at about 6:30 requesting medical aid, but it is still unclear how she died.
CPR was in progress when Clallam County 2 arrived on scene along with park law enforcement rangers. The woman was transported to Olympic Medical Center where resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.
Bethke was reported to be an experienced swimmer and endurance athlete.