Two women who plunged down a waterfall while tubing on an Oregon river have been identified and remembered as loving adventurers.
Amanda Loyd, 40, and Lindsay Bashan, 33, were swept into the main rapids of Dillon Falls after missing the final takeout area before a treacherous part of the Deschutes River.
The victims were named by the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday, three days after they dropped down the 15-foot waterfall that is a Class 5 Rapid.
Loyd, Bashan and a third person who remains missing had been floating on inner tubes tied together. Investigators learned that the three victims were swept away, while three survivors jumped from their tubes and made it to the shore.
‘This has been a difficult and emotional incident,’ stated Deschutes County Sheriff Jason Carr, thanking search and rescue deputies and volunteers and the marine patrol unit.
‘They have led a coordinated and effective mission under very challenging conditions, and their work has already helped bring answers and closure to two grieving families.’
Loyd was born in Kansas but moved to Rockwall, Texas, and ‘felt her “home” was anywhere near nature’, according to her obituary.
‘Amanda was blessed with many talents including written expression, fitness pursuit, and a fearless adventurous spirit,’ it reads.
‘Although petite in frame, her powerhouse personality lit up every room she entered. She brought immeasurable joy and laughter to her countless friends and followers.’
She had a degree in journalism from the University of North Texas and recently worked as a self-employed realtor and real estate investor. She was also a digital creator and had 2,200 followers on her Facebook page.
Bashan, of Parkland, Florida, was adventurous and ‘into anything and everything’, her father Todd Bashan told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
‘This vacation was an adventure she was doing with her good friends,’ her mother, Vivian Bashan, told the newspaper.
‘They were just going to do all these great outdoor things, hiking and going on the river. And at least they had the first day.’
The mother added that her daughter ‘was just a bright, friendly, thoughtful person’ and that ‘all her friends are just saying how much they loved her and what an amazing friend she was’.
Bashan graduated from Florida State University and was preparing to start a new job in New York City the week after the tragedy, her parents said.
Search efforts continued on Tuesday for the last missing person, whose identity will not be released until they are found and family members are notified.
The sheriff’s office committed to using side-scanning sonar to search deeper underwater.
‘We are confident they will continue doing everything possible to locate the final missing individual,’ Carr said.
Dillon Falls is about 10 miles from Bend.
The sheriff’s office stated that section where the group was swept away ‘features long, violent, and obstructed sections of whitewater with rocks, logs, and other debris that pose serious hazards even to experienced paddlers’.
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