Early Saturday afternoon, June 22nd, Curry County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch received a Text to 911, from an Agness resident, reporting a drowning of a woman upriver from Agness just after 12:40pm. The female victim was on a Rogue River rafting excursion on a raft that started at Foster Bar with three others and a dog, according to initial information.
According to reports, the two females on the raft and a dog got flipped out at Two-Mile Rapids shortly after being on the water, and others in the rafting party were able to get both the females to shore, however, one had drowned.
Dispatch immediately paged out Agness Fire and Rescue, Reach Air along and a request to page out Mercy Air as crews from Search and Rescue, Gold Beach Fire/PD, Sixes River Fire Department, USFS, Aquatic Safety and Coos County Sheriff’s Office, who had been training at Huntly Park earlier started upriver in the Search and Rescue marine boat.
After picking up two members of the Coos County Sheriff’s Office at the Lobster Creek Boat Ramp, they then responded to Two-Mile rapids. Once on scene, there were other rafting members that had arrived.
The victim, identified as 66 year old Mary Kohn of Powers, Or., was transported back down to Lobster Creek where she was released to Redwood Memorial Services out of Brookings, Or.
According to Marine Sergeant Jared Gray, there were life vests aboard the raft but no-one in the rafting party were wearing them, and as of this press release, the dog, named Teddy, a black and white Australian Shepard type dog with a pink collar that was in the raft, has not been located.
