The two people who drowned Tuesday afternoon in separate incidents 20 miles apart from each other in north Clark County have been identified as two local men.
Both incidents occurred on tributaries of the Lewis River and were reported around the same time, about 4:15 p.m. Tuesday.
The person who died after jumping from rocks at Moulton Falls in north Clark County Tuesday was identified as Sean Margetis of Vancouver.
Witnesses saw Margetis, 44, jump from the rocks and not resurface, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
Emergency responders responded and divers located Margetis in about 10 feet of water.
The man whose body was found around the same time by a boater in the North Fork of the Lewis River in Woodland was identified as Donald Kemper, 80, of Ridgefield.
Emergency crews responded and used a technical rescue crew to recover the body.
The preliminary investigation indicates that Kemper was the only occupant of a 14-foot aluminum motorboat when he became separated from the watercraft, according to the sheriff’s office.
Kemper was not wearing a personal floatation device, but there are no witnesses to what investigators are calling an apparent accidental drowning.
The two incidents mark three area drownings in Clark County waterways.
On Saturday, a 25-year-old boater went missing from a small watercraft on the mouth of the Lewis River. That man, Jay Jones of Battle Ground, is presumed drowned.
The sheriff’s office encourages boaters, especially those in small open watercraft, to wear a personal floatation device. The agency reminds the public that children 12 and younger are required to wear life jackets and swimmers should use caution because currents are strong and water temperatures remain cold.
