Lincoln Elementary student dies in Yakima River rafting accident
THE OLYMPIAN - Olympia, WA
A 12-year-old student at Lincoln Elementary School in Olympia drowned Saturday while rafting with her family on the Yakima River. Jasmine Ball was thrown into the water when the raft overturned at a logjam. She got entangled in the raft's grab rope and was stuck underwater for 2 to 3 minutes, Kittitas County sheriff's deputies said. Her stepfather, Richard Eliot, untangled the rope and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until aid arrived, but Jasmine died at the Kittitas Valley Community Hospital in Ellensburg. Eliot and Ball's mother, Meagan Eliot, also were on the raft, along with another Lincoln student, Lexie Parrott. They all were dumped into the river near Irene Rinehart Park outside Ellensburg, but were able to get out, deputies said.
