Now This Is a Proper Rescue

This is the kind of rescue we like at Seattlest. There's no ambiguity about it--the guy falls, he gets hurt, and a Coast Guard helicopter goes up to 7,000 feet to fetch him.

Contrast that with the Cougar Mountain guy who's still being doubted over at the P-I:

I leave a message for Schreck and am still waiting for a callback. The Schrecks were media-friendly when their brother/husband was missing and tight-lipped once he appeared.

That seems odd. When these kinds of happy-ending rescue stories happen elsewhere, there's always a news conference with happy people looking happy on CNN, thanking everyone and answering questions. No such luck here, which only heightens the skepticism. But then it's lowered again after talking with John Warnick, Schreck's neighbor, casual friend and golf partner.

Here's one checkmark in the "I believe his story" column: The guy's a golfer, and a decent one, a 12-handicapper who plays with Warnick at Willows Run, Echo Falls and Newcastle.

When the case in your favor hinges on the fact that you're a golfer and therefore trustworthy, it ain't good. In Seattlest's mind the better the golfer you appear to be on the scorecard, the more we suspect you of liberal application of the hand wedge. Sure, write down birdie. Finding that ball you shanked off into the woods was about as likely as spending three days in the bottom of a Squak Mountan ravine and showing up at home none the worse for wear, though.