Searchers fail to find missing student diver

Divers searched the water near Deception Pass on Saturday but failed to find a Walla Walla University student who disappeared Monday while diving.

Earlier in the week, weather and water conditions hampered the underwater search for Shari Booth, a 19-year-old freshman from Brush Prairie, Clark County, who was taking a scuba class at the school's Rosario Marine Laboratory.

More than a half-dozen dive groups with 14 to 20 divers participated, said Sgt. Greg Adams, who heads search and rescue for the Skagit County Sheriff's Department.

Allen Grenz, dive coordinator for the Skagit County Dive Rescue Team, said it would be the last official search for Booth.

The Coast Guard called off rescue efforts Monday evening, and divers with Skagit and Whatcom counties' dive teams searched into late Tuesday. They were able to get one dive in Wednesday before weather conditions halted the search.

"There have been quite a few divers in the water at various times," Grenz said. "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack to see if we can come up with something."

It's not unusual that Booth hasn't been found, Grenz said, noting Puget Sound has many currents and big tidal fluctuations.

Rivers are running high with heavy flows, which are pushing a lot of sediment into the Sound, he said.

"It's definitely affected visibility," Grenz said. Typically, visibility is 20 to 25 feet, but the first day divers were limited to about 10 feet of visibility.

Although Saturday's search was the last official dive, Grenz said he expects others will go out on their own time to keep looking for her.

Walla Walla University, a Seventh-day Adventist school in College Place, contracts with a professional diving business to provide scuba classes. Classes are postponed pending an investigation.