Suspect Who Fled Through Senator George Sellar Bridge Understructure Believed Alive, Whereabouts Unknown

Wenatchee Valley authorities are looking for a suspect that fled a Columbia River Drug Task Force-related traffic stop Wednesday night and escaped using the steel undercarriage of the Senator George Sellar Bridge.

The unnamed suspect initially fled a traffic stop around 7:00 pm, driving a stolen vehicle with a passenger to the area of Fred Meyer before taking off on foot.

Wenatchee Police Captain Edgar Reinfeld said the suspect began to travel across the George Sellar Bridge, but then went down a utility ladder to the bridge's undercarriage where authorities lost sight of him.

After shutting down the bridge, police began to search both sides of the structure and at one point thought he might have fallen into the Columbia River 85 feet below.

"Douglas County responded very rapidly to get a marine unit in the water … to conduct a water rescue if necessary and were able to search the shoreline and the waters around the bridge within roughly 30 minutes," Reinfeld said.

Police now believe he actually double-backed at a point. It's thought he found some construction clothing and made his way back into East Wenatchee. Cameras around the SureStay Hotel in East Wenatchee are believed to have video evidence of the suspect.

His passenger, a 27-year-old woman from East Wenatchee, was arrested on a warrant.