Vigil For Bonney Lake Officer, Air Force Vet Killed In Avalanche

BONNEY LAKE, WA - Bonney Lake police officer James Larsen and and Air Force veteran Zach Roundtree came home to Pierce County on Tuesday. The two men died in an avalanche over the weekend near Cle Elum and were driven to a funeral home in Buckley yesterday with a full police procession.

The public will get a chance to pay respects to the men on Thursday. There will be a candlelight vigil at Allan Yorke Park flag pole, 7203 W Tapps Hwy East, at 6:15 p.m.

Larsen, a 14-year Bonney Lake police veteran, and Roundtree, 27, the son of a city employee, were snowmobiling Saturday 20 miles outside of Cle Elum when the avalanche struck. The Kittitas County Sheriff's Office said the avalanche occurred at 4,600 feet north of Esmeralda Peak and that communication was difficult.

Two other men, Ryan Journey, 27, of Bonney Lake, and Kyle Ottwell, 26, of Bonney Lake, were injured in the avalanche.

It's been a particularly deadly avalanche week in Puget Sound. Two Bellevue teens died Feb. 25 snowshoeing near Snoqualmie Pass.

Images courtesy city of Bonney Lake