Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife officials continue to investigate a drowning June 30 on the Kennebec River near Oosoola Park in Norridgewock.
The drowning victim, Barbara York, 53, of Waterville, was a passenger in a motorboat operated by Jeffrey Smith, 50, of Norridgewock, when both were ejected from the boat and into the river, authorities said.
District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said Friday her office has not yet received a report of the incident from the Maine Warden Service. Assistant District Attorney Brent Davis was sent to the scene of the drowning that afternoon.
Cpl. John MacDonald, public information officer for the warden service, said the case remains under investigation. Neither York nor Smith were was a personal flotation device or a safety vest, but such devices were on the boat, authorities said. Smith attempted life-saving efforts on York “to no avail,” according to a warden service news release.
About 90 percent of drowning victims were not wearing a life jacket when they drowned, according to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife boating safety manual.
Game wardens, Maine state troopers, the Norridgewock Fire Department and emergency medical services responded to a 911 call about the drowning. Investigators traveled upriver by boat from the Norridgewock boat launch about 1.5 miles, where EMS personnel pronounced York dead.
The Maine Warden Service is investigating the incident as a boating-related fatality. Game wardens are working with the Somerset County District Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter:@Doug_Harlow
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