The tally of missing was likely to grow, Hots said. The rescue mission was to halt at dusk because of treacherous, quicksand-like conditions, and would resume at dawn on Monday, Hots said.
Some rescue workers had been mired in mud up to their armpits and had to be dragged to safety, authorities said.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee flew over the area on Sunday. He told the news conference, "I have a sense that we're going to have some hard news here."
The slide in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains along the Stillaguamish River piled mud, rock and debris up to 15 feet deep in some places.
It blocked the flow of the river, creating floods and a backup of water behind a natural dam of mud and debris, but the threat to people downriver had begun to ease, Inslee said.
The highway was closed in both directions, with no timeline for it to be reopened, he said.
The Snohomish County sheriff's office has asked people affected by the slide to report to the Red Cross so an accurate count can be made of the missing.
Washington state Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen on Saturday evening declared a state of emergency in Snohomish County.
(Reporting by Jonathan Kaminsky in Olympia, Washington; Additional reporting and writing by Kevin Murphy in Kansas City, Missouri; Editing by Edith Honan, Cynthia Osterman, Ian Simpson and Eric Walsh)
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