Snowboarder found at home, then is arrested

Unable to find his friends or his car, a 23-year-old snowboarder reported missing from Stevens Pass hitchhiked to a friend's apartment in Issaquah, unaware that dozens of King County sheriff's deputies and the ski patrol were combing the mountainside Sunday night for any trace of him.

By the time authorities arrived at the apartment Monday morning, they also had discovered that there was an outstanding warrant for the man on a drunken-driving charge.

"Issaquah police were checking an address for him and found him there safe and sound, so they arrested him," said Sgt. John Urquhart of the King County Sheriff's Office.

The man, whom Urquhart declined to identify, was snowboarding with friends Sunday night when they became separated. His friends reported him missing to the authorities and moved the man's car to a better-lighted area of the parking lot, thinking it would be easier for him to find.

When he made it to the parking lot, the man mistakenly thought his friends had left without him.

Karen Gaudette: 206-515-5618 or kgaudette@seattletimes.com