Hunter dies near Matlock

An Elma woman hunting Friday in the Matlock area fell through an old train trestle, plunging 100 to 150 feet and dying on impact with the riverbank, according to the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office.

An Aberdeen Police Department officer used a drone in steep terrain to locate the victim, 24-year-old Haley Benjamin, and determined she was dead.

She fell from a decommissioned train trestle near Kelley Road in the Schafer Grade area, according to the Mason County Sheriff’s Office.

Fire 12 in Matlock got the original call, Chief Mike Brown told the Journal.

“It was beyond our capabilities,” he said.

The weather, inaccessible landscape and darkness made recovering Benjamin unsafe for firefighters.

Fire 12 called Grays Harbor to assist and they asked Mason County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Rescue Team (SORT) for help, MCSO Deputy Matt Colbenson told the Journal.

“Initial attempts to access the victim were hindered by difficult terrain and nighttime conditions, so the operation resumed on October 26th with support from Mason County SORT, Grays Harbor and Pacific County Sheriff’s Offices, Olympic Mountain Rescue, and other agencies,” Colbenson said in an email.

Recovery attempts continued the next day, but Benjamin’s body had been swept away by the rising river.

“On the morning of October 26th, SORT and rope rescue teams cleared a path through dense vegetation to reach the last known position of the victim. However, the victim was no longer in this location, having been swept away by the river current. UAVs, Life Flight, and Swiftwater Rescue Technicians scoured the area along the riverbanks but were unable to locate the victim. Thorough searches were conducted along accessible routes, including aerial surveys by drones, but without success,” Colbenson said.

Grays Harbor authorities are continuing the search.

Thurston County Sheriff’s SORT, specifically trained in swift water rescue, has also been working to locate Benjamin, according to the GHSO.

Her body had not been recovered as of the Journal’s press time.