A 66-year-old Garberville man drowned Thursday after a 19-foot boat wrecked on the rocks of the South Jetty, sending four people into the water. The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office identified the deceased man as Gary Floyd Abena, and its press release notes the other three boaters were treated for minor injuries and hypothermia. According to […]
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UPDATE: Klamath Boating Accident Victim Identified
At 10:30 a.m. today, a Yurok Tribal Police Department officer assisted a sheriff’s deputy to recover the body of James Dennis Cook, also known as Major. Cook’s body was tangled up in branches and brush in the river. He had been missing since last Friday following a boating accident. The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office will […]
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Missing New Zealand Man Confirmed Dead in Possible Drowning
The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office has confirmed that a body found near the Mad River Boat Ramp at 9:20 a.m. today was that of Lester Abbey, who went missing yesterday after leaving for an evening jog. Abbey’s body was retrieved by a Coast Guard Helicopter. The New Zealand man was visiting family in McKinleyville, and […]
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Man Found Drowned Two Months After Disappearance
Paul Michael Martin, 22, of Hoopa, is the second confirmed drowning death of 2016. Martin went missing April 6 after jumping into the Trinity River near Tish Tang Campground. The swift current quickly swept him away, along with two of his friends. The friends were rescued. A press release sent today by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s […]
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Drowning Near Holmes Flat First of the Year
A Fortuna man was this year’s first confirmed drowning victim, according to the Humboldt County Coroner’s Office. Timothy Hatten, 33, was reportedly trying to rescue two children when he succumbed to the current, according to an interview with Hatten’s family on the SoHum blog Redheaded Blackbelt. The children were reportedly pulled from the water by […]
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Family of Missing Swimmer Seeks Closure
Almost two weeks after he was swept away in the Trinity River, 22-year-old Paul Michael Martin’s family continues to search for answers. Martin and two others jumped into the Trinity River near Tish Tang Campground at about 4:30 p.m. on April 6, and all three were quickly swept downriver in the strong current. One man […]
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Drowning Deaths for 2015 at Seven Year High
Aaron Coffelt, a 44-year-old Rio Dell man who was pulled from the Eel River near his home last Thursday, was the county’s 12th drowning of 2015. That’s the most drowning deaths recorded in at least seven years, eclipsing the 10 reported in 2013. Meteorologist Troy Nicolini of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said […]
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Reported Drowning in Willow Creek would be Eighth of 2015
The grim toll of this year’s drowning deaths may rise, according to the Humboldt County Coroner’s office, which announced in a press release that a 33-year-old Oregon man, Justin Russell Lawrence Bennich, was pulled from the water at Willow Creek’s Kimtu swimming hole after becoming unresponsive on July 4. Chief Deputy Coroner Ernie Stewart said […]
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Seventh Drowning Death of 2015: Don’t Assume a Shallow River is a Safe River
The May 27 drowning death of Brian H. Hone in the Trinity River was the seventh such incident in 2015. Hone, 27, was overcome by the swift current immediately after jumping in, according to the accounts of his two friends. They attempted to rescue Hone but were also overwhelmed and struggled to make it back […]
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Drowning Marks Humboldt’s Fifth of 2015
The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office has identified the man who drowned while swimming near Trinidad’s Agate State Beach on Friday Thursday afternoon as 34-year-old Brad Lee Senatore, of Fairfield. It’s the fifth drowning death recorded so far this year in Humboldt County, which typically averages five or six annually. An experienced diver, Senatore went for a […]
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Montana Man Drowns Saving Son in Shelter Cove
A Montana man drowned Sunday morning near Shelter Cove after saving his 13-year-old son who’d fallen into the water. Steven Arthur Bierle, 44, of Gardiner, Montana, was vacationing in the Shelter Cove area with his family when, shortly before 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 15, his son slipped on a rock on Black Sands Beach […]
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Kayaker Drowns in ‘Terrible Tragedy’
A 24-year-old San Francisco woman drowned Sunday morning while kayaking on the Eel River with a group of friends. Humboldt County Deputy Coroner Roy Horton said the woman, identified as Samantha Dweck, originally from Carlisle, Massachusetts, was with a group of about two dozen people that are members of a San Francisco running club that […]