Snoqualmie creates alert system for future Echo Glen escapes

Snoqualmie residents who live near Echo Glen Children’s Center — where seven teenagers escaped late last month — can now receive alerts through a new notification system if there are escapes.

Residents who sign up for the alerts will receive a message saying law enforcement is searching for escapees from Echo Glen, a medium-maximum security facility for youth offenders. The message will tell residents to secure their homes and report suspicious activity by calling 911. Recipients will receive another alert when the escapees are in custody.

The notification system was prompted by feedback from residents after previous escapes, but last month’s incident accelerated the rollout, Snoqualmie city spokesperson Danna McCall said. The city worked with Echo Glen officials and the King County Office of Emergency Management to develop the system.

“We don’t want to create a big, huge scare,” McCall said. “We just want to make people aware without creating a mass panic.”

The seven escapees, ages 15 to 17, allegedly attacked a staff member and stole her keys, then took off in a stolen car. Three were apprehended in Burien, and the remaining four were taken into custody in Clark County last week.

The number of escape incidents at Echo Glen has been consistent since 2020, though the number of young people involved has increased each year, according to data from the Department of Children, Youth and Families, which runs the detention center. From 2020 to 2023, there have been two incidents each year, involving two individuals in 2020, three in 2021 and six in 2022.

Thus far, there have been two incidents in 2023, involving 10 people in total.

Some of the incidents involve youth who don’t get farther than the entrance road or surrounding woods, DCYF spokesperson Jason Wettstein said. Others, like the recent escape, are higher profile — in January 2022, five incarcerated teens escaped after they attacked staff members and fled in a stolen car. They were all apprehended.

Echo Glen received $8 million in state funding this year to upgrade security, including a perimeter fence. Those investments are designed to heighten safety for the surrounding community, Wettstein said.

To receive email or phone notifications, residents must register with the opt-in Alert King County service and provide a physical address. A sign-up link is available on the city of Snoqualmie’s website: snoqualmiewa.gov.