COLUMBUS - Carbon County Sheriff Cliff Brophy released this statement Monday:
The name of the drowning victim is: Lorne Speakerworth of Worden and Lockwood, MT areas. He was 47 years of age. His death is ruled as an accidental drowning. He and a lifelong friend were floating in the Columbus Mt area yesterday on July 17, 2016. Their raft overturned just above the main bridge when they went through a section of whitewater.
The surviving friend called 911 when he was able to reach the shore. Mr. Speakerworth was found approximately one and a half miles downriver. He was located by an individual that also called 911 to report finding a body in the water. Mr. Speakerworth was partially submerged for at least 30 minutes. Family has been notified.
A man drowned in the Yellowstone River near Columbus on Sunday, Stillwater County Sheriff's Office said. According to officials, dispatch received a 911 call of an overturned raft at 3:45 p.m. Two men, approximately in their 50s, were in the raft. One of the men was able to make it out of the river and called emergency services. He reported that his friend was floating down river. Thirty minutes later, another caller reported finding the victim in the river roughly a mile and a half from where the raft overturned, south of Columbus. The man was pronounced dead shortly after ambulance personnel arrived. He was not wearing a life jacket.
The sheriff's office will not release the name of the victim until family is notified. "The other person was taken to a local hospital and treated for minor injuries," a press release stated. "Fish Wildlife and Parks will conduct the investigation that is required by the Coast Guard whenever an accident occurs on water where death, personal injury or loss of property occurs. The Stillwater County Sheriff/Coroner’s Office will conduct the death inquiry."
NO PFD!!
MONDAY, JULY 18, 2016 Man dies in rafting accident on Yellowstone River
Associated Press
BILLINGS – Authorities have released the name of a man who drowned after a rafting accident on the Yellowstone River west of Columbus. Stillwater County Sheriff Cliff Brophy identified the victim Monday as 47-year-old Lorne Speakerworth, of the Worden and Lockwood areas. Officials received a 911 call Sunday afternoon from a second man who was in the raft but was able to get to shore after the boat overturned. Brophy says someone found Speakerworth’s body about a mile and a half downriver about half an hour later. The man was not wearing a life jacket. Speakerworth’s death has been ruled an accidental drowning.
