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PMR Recovers Two Bodies Along the Clackamas River
Sunday, February 22, 2004

At the request of the Clackamas Country (OR) Sheriff's Office, Portland Mountain Rescue volunteers recovered the bodies of two drowning victims along the Clackamas River near Estacada, Oregon.

The two victims - both men - were from a small group of people who had been camping near the river on Saturday night. Evidently, one of the men fell into the river and was not able to get out on his own. Other persons from the group tried to save him using a branch, but they were unsuccessful. Shortly thereafter, one of the men on the river bank dove into the water to try to save the first person. Unfortunately, neither man was able to escape the cold and rapidly flowing river with his life.

Members from the Clackamas County Sheriff's Swift Water Rescue Team located both bodies early Sunday morning and were able to bring them to shore. However, the river bank was too muddy and treacherous to recover the bodies without employing a technical raising system. Portland Mountain Rescue was called in to do this job.

A large contingent of PMR volunteers setup a rope and litter (stretcher basket) hauling system to bring the bodies up from the river's edge so they could be returned to their families. This effort proceeded smoothly and took just over 2 hours to complete.

Though Portland Mountain Rescue specializes in mountain and high angle rescues, our Unit responds to non-mountain missions - like this one - as requested by local authorities.