Springs man dies on Arkansas River raft trip
- Details
- Created on Wednesday, 29 June 2011 13:01
- Written by Dena Rosenberry
CANON CITY -- A rafter who was swimming in the Arkansas River on Sunday died after going under the water.
Fremont County Coroner Dr. Dorothy Twellman identified the victim as Travis Fowler, 30, of Colorado Springs.
"An autopsy Monday showed a few things that may have caused his death but we are waiting for toxicology results, which could take several weeks," Twellman said.
Fowler was rafting with friends when the group stopped at Pinnacle Rock 20 miles west of Canon City to swim in the Three Forks rapid.
"He jumped off a rock into the river, took a few strokes and went down. They got to him quickly and initiated CPR," Twellman said.
Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area officials arrived and used a defibrilator to try to revive Fowler, but the efforts were unsuccessful.
Twellman said she was unsure if Fowler had been wearing a personal flotation device.
The Arkansas River was running close to 4,000 cubic feet per second Sunday at the Parkdale gauge 12 miles downriver from the site of the accident.
Fowler's death was the second on the Arkansas River this summer. The first occurred June 8 when a 38-year-old Texas woman died following a commercial rafting accident in the Browns Canyon area north of Salida.
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