Tacoma – Two men who schemed to fake a suicide so one could go AWOL from the Army were charged Thursday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma with making a false distress message to the U.S. Coast Guard. Their actions resulted in a 10-hour search in the waters below Fort Warden State Park in Port Townsend.
20-year-old Devin Schmidt, a former soldier from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and his cousin, 21-year-old Ryen Bell of Bonney Lake, are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on June 4.
According to the criminal complaint, in December of 2019 Schmidt schemed with Bell to fake his death by suicide so that Schmidt could end his military service and live in Mexico.
The scheme began with Schmidt filming a fake suicide video saying goodbye to his family and friends. Bell then told Port Townsend Police that he believed his cousin had committed suicide in Fort Warden State Park after “finding” Schmidt’s dog tags, cell phone and other belongings at the top of the cliff, 150 feet above the beach at Fort Warden.
Bell filed a missing person report knowing that his cousin was alive and in hiding. The report triggered a massive search by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the US Coast Guard at a cost of over $172,000.
The scheme fell apart when law enforcement examined Bell’s phone and Facebook messages and determined the two were planning to meet up at a Port Townsend McDonalds the evening of December 19, to begin the next step of their plan to go to Mexico. Police were waiting and arrested both men.
Schmidt received an ‘Other than Honorable Discharge’ from the military on March 25. Making a false distress call to the Coast Guard is punishable by up to six years confinement, hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties and fines, and financial liability for all costs incurred by the Coast Guard for the search.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS), with assistance from the Port Townsend Police Department and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Photo: Devin Schmidt