Police: Missing skydiver likely hasn't survived
SEATTLE (AP) - The search for a wing suit-wearing skydiver in the Washington Cascade foothills will continue by helicopter as the weather allows, but officials don't expect to find him alive.
No one saw a parachute Thursday, and if Kurt Ruppert, 29, of Lake City, Fla., survived the jump and was caught in a tree or lost in the forest, he likely died of hypothermia, a King County sheriff's sergeant said.
"We just don't think he survived at this point," Sgt. Cindi West said Monday.
Dozens of searchers were out four days "calling and calling," West said. "If he survived he wasn't conscious enough to yell to us."
It snowed Thursday night and temperatures have been in the 30s and 40s around Mount Si, a steep and heavily forested 4,200-foot peak about 30 miles east of Seattle.
Searchers covered 9 square miles before the ground search was suspended Sunday. Fog on Monday prevented a helicopter search.
Ruppert was taking turns with two friends who were waiting at the grassy landing zone when he jumped out of a helicopter at 6,500 feet and disappeared.
The webbed wing suit allows a skydiver to glide at up to 100 miles per hour, so Ruppert could have covered a lot of ground, West said.
Friends in Florida say Ruppert had been skydiving seven or eight years and was experienced in a wing suit.
There's a record of Ruppert's cellphone signal until he went up in the air and jumped or shut it off, West said. That information led to an extensive search of a quarter-square mile area, which found no sign of him.
Outlying areas where Ruppert might have landed are heavily wooded or mountain cliffs.
Ruppert carried a blue parachute in a black pack. He was dressed in a tan and green wing suit, which would make him hard to spot in the woods.
Friends of Ruppert's were with ground searchers over the weekend, but did not want to talk with reporters, West said.
"People that are out there are having a little memorial today on the mountain," said a friend in Florida, Skydive Palatka owner Art Shaffer.
"There's a lot of sad people here," he said Monday.
No one saw a parachute Thursday, and if Kurt Ruppert, 29, of Lake City, Fla., survived the jump and was caught in a tree or lost in the forest, he likely died of hypothermia, a King County sheriff's sergeant said.
"We just don't think he survived at this point," Sgt. Cindi West said Monday.
Dozens of searchers were out four days "calling and calling," West said. "If he survived he wasn't conscious enough to yell to us."
It snowed Thursday night and temperatures have been in the 30s and 40s around Mount Si, a steep and heavily forested 4,200-foot peak about 30 miles east of Seattle.
Searchers covered 9 square miles before the ground search was suspended Sunday. Fog on Monday prevented a helicopter search.
Ruppert was taking turns with two friends who were waiting at the grassy landing zone when he jumped out of a helicopter at 6,500 feet and disappeared.
The webbed wing suit allows a skydiver to glide at up to 100 miles per hour, so Ruppert could have covered a lot of ground, West said.
Friends in Florida say Ruppert had been skydiving seven or eight years and was experienced in a wing suit.
There's a record of Ruppert's cellphone signal until he went up in the air and jumped or shut it off, West said. That information led to an extensive search of a quarter-square mile area, which found no sign of him.
Outlying areas where Ruppert might have landed are heavily wooded or mountain cliffs.
Ruppert carried a blue parachute in a black pack. He was dressed in a tan and green wing suit, which would make him hard to spot in the woods.
Friends of Ruppert's were with ground searchers over the weekend, but did not want to talk with reporters, West said.
"People that are out there are having a little memorial today on the mountain," said a friend in Florida, Skydive Palatka owner Art Shaffer.
"There's a lot of sad people here," he said Monday.
 Perhaps he had a fifty thousand dollar Rolex on him and, I would assume some cash. May even find an unclaimed lottery Ticket worth a large sum. I guess everyone will search in the spring.
 For the unemployed in North Bend.............Go and look as you may find him.
I don't know anything about these flying suits? If they can glide and soar with these things, can they also slow down their descent? I don't see anything in this article about using search dogs.  Dogs can find anything, even when you're trying to hide your slippers in the back of the closet under two mounds of dirty clothes, somehow, there's your chewed up slippers next day. If he's an experience outdoorsman, and wasn't knocked out cold for too long, he could have found ways to stay warm. I wouldn't give up just yet. Are there bears on that mountain?
 @Joy Johnson A wingsuit, by design, slows the decent quite a bit.  The design of the wingsuit is intended to translate vertical speed to horizontal speed.  A traditional skydive has a vertical speed from anywhere between 100-170 MPH.  Your horizontal speed is minimal (and only at the end of the jump when you and your fellow jumpers separate to safely deploy).  In contrast, a wingsuit in full flight will have a horizontal speed of 60-80 MPH and a vertical speed anywhere from 30-80 MPH depending on the type of suit and the skill of the flyer.  As a result, the length of the jump (time) is longer with a wingsuit as you base your deployment on a target altitude, not how long you have been in the air.  Compared to a traditional skydive, wingsuits can double their freefall time due to their slower vertical speed.
@Joy Johnson
The suits are amazing, and they look like a lot of fun. They can fly and control them but at a fairly high speed. At some point they need to pull the cord. I had assumed a white âchute, but blue would be hard to spot on dark green trees. There is no reason to assume he did not deploy his âchute, even if a bit late, so it should be covering a relatively large area. Perhaps filming the area with a filter to enhance the blue?  I donât know much about that sort of thing, but come on and use some imagination. I am not criticizing, because I know a whole lot of very concerned effort has been expended, but would something like a blue filter help to distinguish between green and blue?   Â
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@JustSayin
Democrat or Republican?
Sad news for sure but no surprise. I wish all his friends and family the best. Cheers to everyone involved in the effort to locate this person and I hope people will use some common sense here in their posts.
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 @Ankle Biter Really?
Wearing a tan and green suit and jumping into highly wooded area.... guess it didn't cross his mind that he might be in danger which seems strange considering what he was doing. Perhaps these adrenalin junkies just consider death as part of the game.
 @ytboarder far from it
I recently watched a story on HBO Real Sports about guys wearing flying suits. They like to glide close to cliffs, in fact the guy featured in the story actually hit a rock ledge and crashed. Fortunately he survived. It is too bad this man did not have a better flight plan. Sad for his friends and family.
My sister and niece are from Lake City, FL. I had texted them the info as they know his parents who own a bakery/diner. My condolences to his family, friends and all who knew him. Grateful for search & rescue, police, & helicopter pilots for all their hard efforts. Praying for healing.
This is sad but I would have to say when I go I would hope that I am doing something that I love like this young man. RIP and my sympathies to his friends and family.
Would be an awful way to die.........feel so bad for his family and friends. I know it's not confirmed, but does not look good.
 @mustang sally I can only hope that if he is not to be found alive that his death was quick and painless.
 @mustang sally Probably didn't feel a thing...he was gliding all the way to the after life. Sounds peaceful
 @mustang sally I agree, it isn't looking good for him now. I'm trying to hold out hope for them as there have been miracles in the past but I think that's stretching it even now.
Would be good to have transponder with these types of jumps over tough terrain
 @yeahguy Using an avalanche transponder would work. It is always beeping unless you turn the tracking mode on to find people after the avalanche. But, as others have said, it might not have survived the landing if the chute did not open.
@yeahguy PLBs require you to be able to press the button to activate. Aircraft ELTs activate on impact but far bulkier.
 @watcher  @yeahguy You'd have to think he wouldn't turn his cell phone off, so assume it was destroyed on impact
RIP.... my deepest condolences to his family and friends. I can't imagine the pain they are going through :*(
RIP Kurt.
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It would be nice if they could at least recover his Go Pro camera. Kind of like a black box...if it's still intact, it might at least show his other squirrel comrades what not to do, as I seriously doubt this was an equipment failure.
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Condolences to friends and family.
Call off the search then. RIP, you flew home.
I'm so sorry. Â I do hope he is found eventually so his loved ones can have closure. Â That is important.
listen this dude lived taking risk and he died taking risk, now stop using tax payers money looking or charge someone else, keep the money for people who no fault of there own and with no risk of death defying feats to be rescued.
 @nunof uors Wow! I love your compassion for human life there pal. Maybe we shouldn't spare expense looking for you if you disappear?
It just wouldn't be a search and rescue story about skydivers or mountain climbers or snow skiiers or experimental airplanes without some chucklehead clenching his little fists and moaning about the cost to the taxpayers. Congratulations, Mr. Edgy and Unpredictable. Way to tell 'em.
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 @nunof uors Dude ... not cool. Would you rather people just live indoors and sit and front of a TV? -- Oh, wait. Accidents happen and this guy was experienced in this sport and he died doing something he loved. My condolences to his family and friends.
My sympathies to the friends & family of Mr Ruppert. And thank you to the searchers who tried their best.