Boater discovers capsized boat in Washington river. 65-year-old’s body found, cops say
Two men were on a boat when it struck a pole and started filling with water before sending both into the frigid water on a Washington river, authorities said.
A boater spotted the capsized boat on Sunday, Jan. 29, on the North Fork of the Lewis River near Woodland, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office said.
Woodland reached a high of 41 degrees, according to AccuWeather.
The boater took one man to the shoreline, but his 65-year-old friend, Robert Stevenson, of La Center, had vanished in the water, deputies said. Neither of the men was wearing a life jacket, authorities said.
Rescuers responded to the river around 12:30 p.m. and searched the water for several hours but could not find the man, deputies said.
Authorities also searched both banks of the river and used a drone to look at the area from the air.
By 4 p.m., first responders stopped searching for the day.
Searchers found Stevenson’s body a day after he went missing, deputies said. His body was found about a half-mile from where their boat capsized.
Woodland is about 30 miles north of Portland.
This story was originally published January 30, 2023 at 10:43 AM with the headline "Boater discovers capsized boat in Washington river. 65-year-old’s body found, cops say."
