Accident occurred on the DRYWAY Class IV-V; high water
Victim was experienced; Worked for North Country Outdoors in Bingham as a guide; PFD's and helmets worn
Madison man drowns after whitewater raft flips on West Branch of Penobscot River
By Morning Sentinel Staff Report (Central Maine.com)
A Madison man drowned Monday in the West Branch of the Penobscot River after he and two others were thrown from their whitewater raft, according to state officials.
Scott Newton, 38, and the others had just launched their raft Monday when it flipped in whitewater downriver from Ripogenus Dam and near the Big Eddy, just outside the southwestern border of Baxter State Park, according to a statement released Tuesday to the news media by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife.
The three rafters were wearing life jackets and helmets when they were thrown from the raft and then traveled through rapids in what the department said was the “dryway” gorge area of the West Branch. The two others made it ashore and told officials they then saw Newton float past them, face down and unresponsive, according to information from IF&W.
A man fishing along the shore also saw Newton’s body and called 911 from the Chewonki Big Eddy Campground. Several people retrieved Newton’s body a few minutes later from the water at the Big Eddy, according to IF&W officials.
Newton was an owner of 201 PowerSports at 29 Main St. in Bingham and Jackman, whose offerings include renting all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles. The Maine Warden Service, Maine Forest Service, Lincoln Fire Department and Howland Fire Department responded to the scene and searched for Minott.
2 bodies retrieved in separate Penobscot County drownings
by Leela Stockley, Bangor, ME Daily News
On Monday afternoon, the body of Scott Newton, 38, of Madison was recovered from the West Branch of the Penobscot River, according to Latti.
Newton had been whitewater rafting with two other people downriver from the Ripogenus Dam in an area known as the Big Eddy southeast of Baxter State Park.
The three people in the raft, who had been wearing life jackets, were thrown from the craft when it flipped shortly after being launched. The rafters went through the whitewater rapids, and two were able to make it to shore before they saw an unresponsive Newton float by head-down.
A man who had been fishing in the area also saw Newton’s body, and called 911. Newton’s body was pulled from the river at the Big Eddy by several onlookers, Latti said.
Newton’s body was transported to the Lamson Funeral Home in Millinocket, and the state medical examiner will conduct an autopsy.
