SWEET HOME, Ore. (AP) — A Eugene woman drowned at Foster Reservoir near Sweet Home on Sunday after slipping off a paddleboard.
The Linn County Sheriff’s Office said Courtney Couch, 36, was on a family outing and had been paddleboarding near a swim area at Lewis Creek Park when she slipped and fell into the water, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
Couch remained underwater for several minutes before she was pulled to the surface by other swimmers. She was not wearing a life jacket, officials said. The Linn County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of an unconscious woman in the water at about 2 p.m. Couch was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Couch, a U.S. Army veteran, had been a deputy with the Lane County Sheriff’s Office for seven years.
“Courtney was a very loved member of the Sheriff’s Office family,” the Lane County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “Her sudden and tragic death has knocked the wind out of us.”