The three Whatcom County residents were on a two-month trek when last weekend’s massive earthquake struck. Two Seattle women who were also trekking in Nepal at the time of the quake remain missing.
Three Whatcom County residents who went missing in Nepal after last weekend’s massive earthquake are alive and well, relatives said Thursday.
“Doreen Richmond, Jim Lane and Jeannie DeBari are safe and well in Nepal,” Richmond’s sister, Kathy Glubiak, said in an email Thursday morning. “ … We are all relieved!”
Lane, 56, and Richmond, 57, a married couple from Lummi Island, and DeBari, 59, of Glacier, traveled to Nepal earlier this month for a two-month trek along the Great Himalaya Trail between Mount Kanchenjunga and Mount Makalu. They were last seen April 22 — two days before the 7.8-magnitude quake struck.
Richmond’s family received word the group was fine early Thursday.
“My sister, Doreen, called my mom this morning just to say they were all safe,” said Diane Lobasso. “They felt the tremors but were fine. We really didn’t get all the details of what happened exactly. She had to borrow someone’s phone and the call was very brief.”
Two Seattle women who were also trekking in Nepal at the time of the quake remain missing. Sydney Schumacher and Bailey Meola, both 19, were last seen hiking up Kyangin Ri, a peak above the village of Kyangin Gompa in the Langtang region the day before the earthquake.
The friends’ trek in Nepal was part of an around-the-world adventure together after their graduation last year from Garfield High School, family members said.
The massive earthquake unleashed deadly landslides and avalanches, destroyed villages and killed more than 5,000 people. Hundreds more are missing.