Accident Database

Report ID# 3398

Help
  • PFD Not Worn or Present
  • Does not Apply
  • Cold Water

Accident Description

Authorities identify drowning victim

By WILLIAM BROWNING - Star-Tribune staff writer

Posted: Friday, July 16, 2010 1:15 a

The woman who drowned in the North Platte River on Wednesday was floating down the river with a group of friends when she came off an inner tube near Whitewater Park, according to authorities. Several people along the river's bank pulled Chantelle Oakes from the water a little before 2 p.m. The 25-year-old was unresponsive and not breathing by the time onlookers began cardiopulmonary resuscitation beneath Poplar Street Bridge, where they had pulled her ashore.

Emergency responders transported Oakes to Wyoming Medical Center about 2:15 p.m. She was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.She was not wearing a life jacket, authorities said. An autopsy was scheduled for Thursday evening, according to Natrona County Coroner Connie Jacobson. Burl Ford, one of the witnesses who helped pull Oakes from the water, said that while standing in the Whitewater Park, he saw a vacant inner tube and life jacket floating down the river. He drove to Poplar Street Bridge and was trying to retrieve the items when he saw the victim. He described her as "face down and not moving."

Another witness, who was with Ford, said he saw the woman struggling to swim a short time before she was pulled from the water. Oakes, a Rock Springs native, was a nurse at Wyoming Medical Center. She had gotten married in September.

Reach reporter William Browning at (307) 266-0534 or at william.browning@trib.com.

Join AW and support river stewardship nationwide!