Spokane man dies in drowning accident

IONE — A Spokane man has died by drowning on the Pend Oreille River, the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office said on Monday.

John H. Nelson was attempting to remove a log entangled in a dock line on Friday when he disappeared. Units from the sheriff’s marine patrol responded to the call, as did a rescue boat and diver from fire districts 2 and 4, but Nelson could not be located despite a search that extended into the nighttime. Sheriff’s officials said high water and river flows cause difficulty during the search.

Nelson’s body was discovered at 11:47 a.m. on Saturday after another round of searching by the marine patrol and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office dive leader. Nelson was found approximately 50 feet downstream from the dock, in about six feet of water.

An investigation into the drowning and its contributing factors is underway.

The sheriff’s office is reminding people that the river has not reached summer conditions.

“The river is colder and at higher levels than normal for this time of year and debris is still floating downstream,” Undersheriff Geoff Rusho said in a news release.

The river’s discharge has bounced around at the 60,000 cubic-foot-per-second range since the end of last month, according to the U.S. Geographical Survey. The river’s flow slackened to 50,000 cfs at the time of Nelson’s disappearance, USGS records indicate.

The sheriff’s office is advising people to exercise caution on the river due to the conditions.