Relatives Grasp Fleeting Hope That Missing Foursome Are Still Alive On Chuckanut Bay Islands

Relatives of four young people missing for nearly a week and feared drowned in Bellingham's Chuckanut Bay say they might simply be stranded on one of the small islands dotting the area, just waiting to be picked up.

They admit it's a slim hope, but it's also all they've got.

"My daughter is a very strong girl, very strong-willed, and I think she's out there . . . just waiting," said Sally Ham, mother of 23-year-old Samantha Ham. "I think they quit searching too soon."

Authorities have scaled back their search for Ham and three friends - Korina Rodriguez, 20, and brothers Timothy and Frankie Braddy, ages 22 and 26.

The four, from Bellingham, last were seen this past Saturday night after apparently going to a party where they were drinking, police said. Relatives say they were told by friends the four never made it to the party but, instead, decided to go rock climbing.

But Tuesday, police found a car parked along Chuckanut Shore Road that was loaned to the Braddys by their sister.

Later, they found two empty skiffs that had been taken from a home nearby. Nearby, they found a coat belonging to Rodriguez.

At the height of the search, more than 70 people were scouring the ground, air and water for any sign of the group, said Sgt. Ron Peterson of the Whatcom County sheriff's office.

"You never really walk away from these things, but we have scaled way back," he said. "We've done all the obvious things."

He said there is a "very remote" possibility the four still could be alive on one of the islands waiting to be rescued, but police are "80 to 90 percent sure" the four were involved in some mishap in the choppy waters of the bay that night.

Police have received dozens of tips since the group disappeared and will continue to check them out, Peterson said.

Ham works as a housekeeper at a Bellingham hotel and lives in the same apartment complex as Rodriguez, who moved in last August with her 2-year-old daughter.

The Braddys are longtime friends of Ham's. She had been dating Timothy Braddy, who is an artist, relatives said. Frankie Braddy is a print pressman at a Bellingham copy shop. All of them attended area high schools.

There was some speculation, based on an anonymous call to police, that the four had run off to Nevada to get married. But relatives called that theory ridiculous. Why would they have left the car - containing Ham's purse - behind? they asked. Why wouldn't they have told someone?

Brandy Wiltse, the Braddys' sister, said she had a "bad gut feeling" Sunday when Timothy failed to call her. He had been helping her out with her baby daughter. She reported them missing Monday.

"I think they were just out to have a good time, just having a couple of beers, and not really thinking," she said. "And they just didn't come back."