Authorities are still searching for the body of award-winning Portland chef Naomi Pomeroy, who drowned Saturday night when she was pulled under the water after her paddleboard leash or a strap connecting two inner tubes or both got caught on a submerged tree while she was floating on the Willamette River near Corvallis.
Pomeroy, 49, was one of three people floating on two tubes and a paddleboard that were connected when they hit an exposed snag about 100 yards upstream of Marys River.
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office originally said Pomeroy was “held by the paddleboard leash” under water, but the sheriff’s office has clarified that she may have been held down by both the leash and a strap connecting the two inner tubes.
Pomeroy did not surface. On Tuesday, the search for her body continued into the fourth day.
When she got caught on the snag around 8:30 p.m., Pomeroy was sitting in an inner tube, while one of her companions sat in the other inner tube and the third person sat on the paddleboard, which was attached to Pomeroy’s leg by a leash, Benton County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Toby Bottorff said. The three of them fell into the water after they hit the snag. Pomeroy got caught while the other two floated downstream.
One of the others tried to swim upstream to help Pomeroy, Bottorff said, but couldn’t reach her because of the strength of the current.
The two later made it to shore and were later picked up by the Corvallis Fire Department, sheriff’s officials said. Pomeroy was with her husband, Kyle Linden Webster, friends and family said. Authorities haven’t identified the third person, saying only that he was a male but not his age.
Corvallis Fire Department rescuers were the first to respond to the accident. When they arrived, they believed there could be as many as four victims, Deputy Chief of Operations Kevin Fulsher told The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Three rescuers reached Pomeroy by boat and unsuccessfully tried to pull her out of the water to start CPR, Fulsher said.
The department’s rescue swimmer then dropped into the water. Fighting against the current, the rescue swimmer realized that Pomeroy was tangled in a cord or rope that prevented her from moving. He pulled out a knife and cut the cord, expecting her to float on the surface down the river, where the rescuer hoped she could be more easily pulled into a boat for CPR, Fulsher said.
Instead, Pomeroy sank before the swimmer could grab hold of her and the rescuers lost sight of her.
“Our response, every time, is we’re going to go save saveable victims. That’s what our crews believed they had,” Fulsher said. “They were very aggressive and put themselves in danger to make this rescue and we were unable to do it due to the challenging conditions.”
“We are heartbroken for the victim and the family,” Corvallis Fire Department Chief Ben Janes said.
The sheriff’s office has taken over the recovery operation. In the four days since Pomeroy drowned, they have been unable to find her body, despite using sonar, underwater cameras and drones. A sheriff’s office boat was searching the river downstream from the snag Tuesday, but the river current and debris have made the operation difficult.
Bottorff said Pomeroy’s body has likely sunk to the bottom of the river. He expects her body to surface about five days after her death, he said.
The sheriff’s office will have a boat on the river looking for her body every day through Sunday, he said, and will reassess which days to search for her after that if she’s not found by then.
Among the challenges are relatively poor visibility — around 3 to 5 feet — due to the fast current, as well as the many rocky nooks and crannies on the river bottom.
While the sheriff’s office has had a boat on the river every day since Saturday, searchers also asked the public “to keep an eye out” for Pomeroy’s body. They cautioned people to call 911 and not to attempt a recovery on their own.
“I am dedicated to locating Naomi to bring her home to her family and loved ones,” Benton County Sheriff Jef Van Arsdall said in a statement. “I want to thank all involved in the search and recovery mission and support during this difficult time.”
The Linn County Sheriff’s Office, Albany Fire Department and Albany Police Department have all helped the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and Corvallis Fire Department with search and rescue.
The sheriff’s office warned people to not tie themselves to their paddleboards unless their leash has a quick release mechanism and warned against tying more than two inner tubes together. The Oregon State Marine Board on Tuesday urged people to never leash their ankles to paddleboards on moving water, such as rivers, because of the danger the leash could hold them underwater if they get tangled in rocks or trees.
“On a lake or other still water, it is an excellent safety tool when used in conjunction with a life jacket,” the board said in a statement. “On moving water though, the leash can be deadly.”
A homeless couple who live on a wooded embankment next to the Willamette said they have watched the rescue operation unfold over several days and have seen drones in the air and multiple sheriff’s office boats on the water.
“We knew something was bad,” Sandie Wendel said.
The couple hadn’t seen any rescuers Tuesday along their stretch of the Willamette. Anywhere from 50 to 100 people float down the river on an average day, they said.
Bouquets of flowers sit inside of Cornet Custard on SE Divison St. in Portland, Oregon to honor chef Naomi Pomeroy. Pomeroy drowned Saturday, July 13, 2024, in the Willamette River.Allison Barr/The Oregonian
Memorial posts for Pomeroy flooded social media Monday and Tuesday, with friends and colleagues saying Pomeroy was a “titan of Portland food” and a culinary “rock star” who changed the face of American dining.
Pomeroy was a self-taught cook who first gained prominence through a pop-up restaurant held at her own home. She and her partner then opened multiple prominent restaurants, and got themselves into magazines and onto TV.
Pomeroy’s restaurant Beast was named The Oregonian’s co-Restaurant of the Year in 2008. In 2013, she competed on “Top Chef Masters” and, the following year, she was named Best Chef in the Northwest at the James Beard awards.
She is survived by her husband and her daughter August. No memorial services have been announced.
Last month, Pomeroy and business partner Luke Dirks launched a new dinner series dubbed Garden Party in a secluded garden near the neighborhood bistro they expected to open at 4537 S.E. Division St. this fall.
The duo planned to host four more dinners this month, including one each this Thursday and Friday, in a series they expected would continue through the end of summer and possibly beyond. Those events have been canceled.
“SEE YOU ALL AGAIN SO SOoooooon!!,” Pomeroy wrote in a post announcing the dinners June 26. “I can’t wait to cook with you again !!!”
Staff writer Michael Russell contributed to this report.
— Fedor Zarkhin is a breaking news and enterprise reporter with a focus on crime. Reach him at 971-373-2905; fzarkhin@oregonian.
— Tatum Todd covers crime and public safety. Reach them at ttodd@oregonian.com, or 503-221-4313.
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