California Gov. Gavin Newsom revealed on Thursday that some of his “family friends” were among the backcountry skiers killed in thedeadly avalanche in the Lake Tahoearea.
“It turns out, a lot of mutual friends in Marin County — I’m just learning [that] some of my wife’s old family friends” were among the victims, Newsom said at an unrelated press conference.
“It’s just tragic, themost devastating avalanchein terms of loss of life we have ever experienced,” the governor said.
Of the 15 people caught in the avalanche, nine died, including the one still-missing skier who is presumed dead. Six people had been rescued.
Authorities on Thursday suspended search and rescue efforts due to hazardous weather conditions in the region, and the bodies still remain on the snowbound mountain.
“Avalanche victims cannot be safely extracted off the mountain today,” the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Thursday morning. “Recovery efforts are expected to carry into the weekend.”
Nearly 100 first responders were involved in the search effort, Newsom said in a Wednesday X post.
Authorities have not released any details about the group outside of the fact that they were all between the ages of 30 and 55.
But by late Thursday, the identities of six women who died on the trip had emerged.
Among them were two sisters, Caroline Sekar, 45, and Liz Clabaugh, 52, and Kate Vitt — a mom of two and a former vice president at SiriusXM.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
