https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2024/07/20/texas-man-dies-during-river-rafting-trip-in-western-alaska/
Texas man dies during river rafting trip in Western Alaska
A Texas man died Friday during a remote rafting trip on a river in Western Alaska, state troopers said.
The man, 53-year-old Dallas resident Larry Erwin, was part of a group rafting on a river about 53 miles southeast of Bethel, Alaska State Troopers said in an online report. Troopers spokesman Tim DeSpain said Saturday that the group reportedly included seven people — Erwin among them — along with 10 boats, and they were a couple days into their rafting trip.
On Friday, Erwin lost control of his inflatable raft and “went over a waterfall,” sending him out of the boat and into the water, troopers said.
He “was pulled to shore and did not have any signs of life,” according to troopers.
Troopers said they were notified of the fatality around 6:21 p.m. Friday.
The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center responded to the site from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage and took Erwin’s body and members of the group to Bethel in a helicopter, troopers said. The Rescue Coordination Center made multiple trips by helicopter to bring all the group members to Bethel, DeSpain said.
Erwin’s next of kin have been notified along with the State Medical Examiner Office, troopers said.
Additional information, including which river the incident occurred on, wasn’t immediately available from the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center.
