Search resumes for DNR diver presumed drowned
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BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash. (AP) - The search resumed Wednesday for a state Department of Natural Resources diver presumed drowned off Bainbridge Island.
The department said David D. Scheinost, 24, of Puyallup was part of a dive team sampling geoduck clams Tuesday at Restoration Point for paralytic shellfish poisoning.
He reportedly surfaced briefly and sank. Two other divers with the team searched immediately but couldn't find him.
Divers with the Coast Guard, U.S. Navy and the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office are helping look for the body.
Scheinost was a 2010 graduate of the Divers Institute of Technology in Seattle who was hired in February by the DNR.
His cousin, Richelle Risdon, said Scheinost was the type of man people wanted to be around.
"He had a very laid back personality," she said. "He loved his friends, his family."
On Wednesday, Gov, Christine Gregoire issued a statement about Scheinost.
"Mike and I send our thoughts and prayers to the family of Department of Natural Resources diver David Scheinost who is missing and presumed dead following a dive inspection yesterday afternoon. He was performing work that served the people of Washington state and for that he will not be forgotten," the statement read.
The department said David D. Scheinost, 24, of Puyallup was part of a dive team sampling geoduck clams Tuesday at Restoration Point for paralytic shellfish poisoning.
He reportedly surfaced briefly and sank. Two other divers with the team searched immediately but couldn't find him.
Divers with the Coast Guard, U.S. Navy and the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office are helping look for the body.
Scheinost was a 2010 graduate of the Divers Institute of Technology in Seattle who was hired in February by the DNR.
His cousin, Richelle Risdon, said Scheinost was the type of man people wanted to be around.
"He had a very laid back personality," she said. "He loved his friends, his family."
On Wednesday, Gov, Christine Gregoire issued a statement about Scheinost.
"Mike and I send our thoughts and prayers to the family of Department of Natural Resources diver David Scheinost who is missing and presumed dead following a dive inspection yesterday afternoon. He was performing work that served the people of Washington state and for that he will not be forgotten," the statement read.
