Helicopter crew from CBP Air and Marine Operations in Bellingham locates missing hiker

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — A helicopter and crew from the Bellingham Air and Marine Branch of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) located a missing hiker and led a search-and-rescue team to her location Monday.

The rescue occurred after the Bellingham Air and Marine Branch (BAMB) received a call from local law enforcement to assist in locating a hiker who had become lost while summiting Twin Sisters Peak in the Mount Baker Wilderness area. The hiker called 911 Sunday night to report she was lost, cold, and had only a few minutes of cell phone battery life remaining. 

Due to inclement weather, the crew could not launch until after 6 a.m. Monday. After takeoff, the crew made several passes over the mountain, focusing on the western slope of the north Twin Sister peak based on local knowledge of the normal climbing routes. During one of the passes, agents noticed movement under a tree and identified a woman partially matching the description provided by local authorities. The steep, tree-covered terrain precluded landing, so the agents directed the hiker to stay put. The agents obtained grid coordinates and radioed her location back to a ground-based Whatcom County Sheriff’s search-and-rescue team. The search-and-rescue team had trouble locating a route to the hiker, so the agents flew ahead of the team and led them to the hiker’s location. The search-and-rescue team then led the disoriented and hypothermic hiker to safety.

“In addition to our homeland security mission, we often take an active role in search-and-request missions alongside our local law enforcement partners,” said BAMB Director of Air and Marine Operations Todd Hoyt. “Thanks to our agents’ training and knowledge of the area, we were able to help rescue this hiker before the situation became worse.” 

So far this year, BAMB has taken part in five search-and-rescue operations in Washington state.