GALICE, Ore. – A camper and her dog are missing and thought to have drowned, after an incident at Indian Mary County Park on Friday.
Rural Metro Fire said the incident happened at the park’s boat ramp into the Rogue River.
Rural Metro said the details of the incident are unclear due to the lack of eyewitnesses, but at some point, a husband and a wife entered the river, possibly to save their dog.
According to first responders, the husband was pulled out of the water by a person in the area who immediately began CPR. He was transported to the hospital; his condition is unknown at this time.
Rural Metro said a search was launched with water and air vehicles. The woman and her dog are still yet to be found.
“Tragically it happened a lot of times when you live around a beautiful river like this. Take time to preplan if you’re going to the river, make sure kids have life jackets, and get them started when they are young to wear life jackets,” said Brett Turnbull, with Rural Metro Fire.
Rural Metro joined Mercy Flights at the Grants Pass Family YMCA Saturday, to help educate the public about water safety. To help prevent similar instances from happening in the future.
Event organizers handed out life jackets and spoke about the need for water safety this time of year. While Rural Metro helped demonstrate throw bag exercises and other basic tools for water rescue.
“It’s important just to realize the need for water safety, wearing those life jackets, learning how to swim, making sure there are water watchers at all times, and being aware of your surroundings. Having the support of the community was also huge just to show that this is truly a need in our community,” said Alison Cavaner, Director of Communications, at Grants Pass YMCA.
Cavaner said about 500 people showed up at the event, and about 260 life jackets were handed out to children. This was their first-ever water safety event they’ve held and they have planned to make it an annual tradition.
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