Rescuers Search Washington’s Cascade Mountains for Missing Skydiver, Kurt Ruppert of Lake City, Florida

29 year old Kurt Ruppert of Lake City, Florida was reported missing since Thursday, January 3, 2013 by two friends after he failed to show up at a landing zone in the Cascades, east of Seattle. WA. Ruppert was making his second jump from a helicopter above Washington’s rugged Cascade Mountains when he went missing. According to reports, Rupport the suit he was wearing is not meant to be a form of protection from cold and wet conditions. About 145 volunteers canvassed a five square mile area near North Bend, WA, that includes 4,200-foot Mount Si.

 About 130 trained mountain rescuers returned before dawn Sunday to search for a skydiver who went missing three days ago in the mountains east of Seattle, a spokeswoman for the King County Sheriff’s Office said.

“We don’t know if he’s on the ground. We don’t know if his parachute deployed, and he’s stuck up in a tree somewhere,” Sgt. Cindy West said.

Sunday’s search began at 5 a.m., she said.

Kurt Ruppert, of Lake City, Florida, was reported missing Thursday by two friends after he failed to show up at a landing zone, authorities said.

Ruppert was making his second jump from a helicopter above Washington’s rugged Cascade Mountains when he went missing, they said.

Authorities believe Ruppert jumped from an altitude of about 6,500 feet while wearing a special jumpsuit known as a “wingsuit,” which allows a person to soar and glide before deploying a parachute.