Three incredibly dramatic splashdowns occurred in different parts of the country on a single day. The wet and wild Wednesday—December 8, 2021—was marked by tragedy, heroism and some freakish synchronicity.
A woman accidentally drowned while at a company party in Troutdale, Oregon, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.
A woman in her late 60s was pronounced dead after her vehicle plunged into the Niagara River close to the brink of the American Falls, in New York State.
A 62-year-old woman was pulled from the Fox River in suburban St. Charles, Illinois after her vehicle left the roadway and landed in the partially-frozen river.
Multnomah County Sheriff’s deputies received an emergency call around 3 a.m. on Dec. 8 about 26-year-old Olivia Payne, who fell, while trying to board a boat on which a local business was hosting a company party, into the Columbia River in Oregon.
Shortly after arriving, deputies located Payne in the water, but she was unresponsive and was later pronounced dead on scene.
The Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy and determined the incident to be an accident and ruled the death as a drowning.
The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office notified the U.S. Coast Guard and Oregon State Marine Board of the incident.
Across the country, the daring Coast Guard helicopter rescue attempt pulled a woman from a vehicle that was dangerously close to the brink of the American Falls but the victim ultimately perished from the tragic incident.
The woman in her 60s was unresponsive and taken from the scene by ambulance after she was brought to land but the victim was later confirmed dead by New York State Park Police Cpt. Christopher Rola.
One of the three waterfalls that collectively form Niagara Falls on the Niagara River along the Canada–United States border, American Falls has a drop of 70 to 100 feet and nobody who went over has ever survived.
According to a news release from the St. Charles Police Department, officers and units from the St. Charles, Geneva and South Elgin Fire Departments responded at around 12:33 p.m. to a report of a car driving into the Fox River.
First responders found a four-door sedan, which appeared to have one occupant, in the river about 25 feet from the river wall. The vehicle was partially submerged with part of the passenger compartment above water.
St. Charles firefighters entered the water and made contact with the stranded female, 62 year-old driver, who was conscious with no apparent injury.
They transported her to land using of a small boat, then hoisted the vehicle out of the water and towed it from the scene. Police are investigating the accident but have not yet determined a cause for the vehicle leaving the roadway.
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