Woman found clinging to paddleboard after friend reported she drowned, Utah cops say

A paddleboarder thought his friend had drowned after strong winds pushed them apart, Utah deputies said.

The two paddleboarders were in the Pineview Reservoir east of Ogden on Tuesday, June 14, the Weber County Sheriff’s Office said.

At about 10 p.m., one of the paddleboarders started to get concerned. The man told deputies he lost his friend and thought she fell off her paddleboard and drowned.

Rescuers started to search the area for the missing woman.

She was found in the water “barely hanging on to the paddleboard,” deputies said.

Officials helped pull the woman out of the water and onto a boat. She was treated for mild hypothermia, deputies said.

“This case could have been much worse,” the sheriff’s office said in a June 16 news release. “A storm had moved into the area with strong winds which were pushing the female away from shore.”

Deputies said the woman was not wearing a life jacket and was not dressed for the weather. Officials said everyone in Utah is required to have a life jacket on a paddleboard in case of an emergency.

“These simple rules could save your life,” officials said. “This was the second rescue reported on Pineview this week due to changing weather conditions and no life jackets.”

This story was originally published June 17, 2022 at 9:17 AM with the headline "Woman found clinging to paddleboard after friend reported she drowned, Utah cops say."