Authorities are still searching for remains. Award-Winning Portland Chef Naomi Pomeroy, Drowned on Saturday One night, while she was floating on the Willamette River near Corvallis, either the leash of her paddleboard or the strap connecting her two inner tubes, or both, got caught on a submerged tree and she was pulled underwater.
Pomeroy, 49, was one of three people floating on two linked tubes and a paddleboard when they struck a rock outcrop about 100 yards up the Marys River.
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office initially said Pomeroy was “restrained by a paddle board leash” in the water, but the office clarified that he may have been restrained by both the leash and a strap connecting two inner tubes.
Pomeroy never surfaced, and the search for her body continued for a fourth day Tuesday.
According to Lt. Toby Bottorff of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, Pomeroy was sitting on a tube when she got stuck on a rock around 8:30 p.m. One of her companions was sitting on another tube, and a third was sitting on a paddle board attached to Pomeroy’s feet by a lead. All three fell into the water after hitting the rocks. Pomeroy became stuck, and the other two were swept downstream.
Another person tried to swim upstream to help Pomeroy, but strong currents made it impossible to reach her, Bottorff said.
The two later made it to shore and were later rescued by the Corvallis Fire Department, according to the sheriff’s office. Friends and family said Pomeroy was with her husband, Kyle Linden Webster. Authorities have not released the identity of the third person, describing him as a man and his age as undetermined.
Rescue crews from the Corvallis Fire Department were the first to respond to the incident, and when they arrived they believed there may have been as many as four victims, Deputy Chief Kevin Fulscher told The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Three rescuers reached Pomeroy by boat, pulled her from the water and attempted CPR but were unsuccessful, Fulscher said.
Police rescuers then jumped into the water. They swam against the current and realized Pomeroy was tangled in a cord or rope, holding her in place. They pulled out a knife and tried to cut the cord, hoping that Pomeroy would float downstream to the surface, where rescuers could more easily pull her into a boat and perform CPR, Fulscher said.
However, before swimmers could grab her, she sank and rescuers lost sight of her.
“Our response every time is to go and rescue any victim we can, and that’s what our guys believed,” Fulscher said. “They were very aggressive and put themselves at risk to make this rescue, but because of the tough conditions we weren’t able to make it.”
“Our hearts go out to the victim and his family,” Corvallis Fire Chief Ben Janes said.
The sheriff’s office has taken over the rescue effort. Four days after Pomeroy drowned, his body has not been found, despite the use of sonar, underwater cameras and drones. A sheriff’s office boat was searching downstream from a blockage in the riverbed on Tuesday, but the current and debris have made the search difficult.
Bottorff said Pomeroy’s body was likely at the bottom of the river and was expected to surface about five days after his death.
The sheriff’s office plans to send boats out on the river each day through Sunday to search for her body, and if she is not found by Sunday, they will reevaluate what days to search after that.
Challenges include relatively poor visibility (3-5 feet) due to the fast current and the riverbed is full of rocky crevices.
The sheriff’s office has been sending boats out on the river every day since Saturday, but searchers have urged the public to “keep an eye out” for Pomeroy’s body. They warned people not to call 911 or attempt to recover it themselves.
“We are committed to finding Naomi and returning her to her family and loved ones,” Benton County Sheriff Jeff Van Arsdal said in a statement. “We want to thank everyone involved in the search and recovery efforts and their assistance during this difficult time.”
The Linn County Sheriff’s Office, Albany Fire Department and Albany Police Department assisted the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and Corvallis Fire Department in the search and rescue efforts.
The sheriff’s office warned against tying yourself to a paddleboard unless the leash has a quick-release mechanism and warned against tying more than two inner tubes together. The Oregon Marine Commission on Tuesday urged people never to tie their ankles to a paddleboard in flowing water, such as rivers, because the leash could get tangled on a rock or tree and sink underwater.
“In still waters such as lakes, they are an excellent safety tool when used in conjunction with a life jacket,” the commission said in a statement, “but in moving waters, leashes can be deadly.”
A homeless couple who live on a wooded bank along the Willamette River watched the rescue effort unfold over several days, saying they saw drones in the sky and multiple sheriff’s office boats on the water.
“I knew something bad was going on,” Sandy Wendell said.
The couple did not see any rescue workers along the Willamette River on Tuesday, where they say on an average day, 50 to 100 people go down the river.
Posts paying tribute to Pomeroy flooded social media on Monday and Tuesday, with friends and colleagues saying he was “Portland’s Food Giants“And a culinary rock star who changed the American food culture.
A self-taught cook, Pomeroy rose to fame opening a pop-up restaurant in his home before opening several well-known restaurants with a partner and appearing in magazines and on television.
Pomeroy’s restaurant, Beast, was named Oregonian magazine’s joint Restaurant of the Year in 2008. He competed on Top Chef Masters in 2013 and won the 2014 Best of the Best. Named He was named James Beard Award Winner of Best Chef in the Northwest.
She is survived by her husband and daughter, August. No memorial service has been planned.
Last month, Pomeroy and his business partner, Luke Dirks We launched a new dinner series called Garden Party. In a quiet nearby garden The neighborhood bistro they were hoping would open It will be held at 4537 SE Division St. this fall.
The couple had planned to host four more dinners this month, including one on Thursday and one on Friday, and expected to continue through the end of the summer and beyond. But those events have been canceled.
“See you soon!!” Pomeroy wrote. Post to announce Dinner on June 26. “I can’t wait to cook together again!!!”
Staff writer Michael Russell contributed to this report.
— Fedor Zarkin is a breaking news and enterprise reporter specializing in crime. He can be reached at 971-373-2905 or fzarkhin@oregonian.
— Tatum Todd covers crime and public safety. Contact him at email addressor call 503-221-4313.
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