IDENTIFIED: Woman pulled from Kings River near Reedley

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – The woman who was pulled from the Kings River along with her dog Saturday evening has been identified by the Fresno County Coroner’s Office.

Deputies say around 3:30 p.m. Saturday they responded to the area of Rio Vista and Vino Avenues in Reedely after receiving a report of a woman who fell into the Kings River and never resurfaced.

After searching for more than two hours, deputies with the boating and dive unit recovered the woman, later identified as 63-year-old Mary Marshall of Menifee in Riverside County and her large German Shepherd. Neither of them were wearing life jackets.

Investigators say Marshall was with a dozen friends who traditionally float down the Kings River stream annually. She had her raft tied to another raft with her dog on a leash, tethered to a harness Marshall was wearing.

Detectives report the dog jumped off the raft, flipping Marshall over and submerging them in the water. They then got caught in a strainer with the leash wrapped around a branch in the water, keeping them submerged.

Deputies say once they found them, they cut the leash to free them and bring them to the surface. Marshall, a retired member of the U.S. Marine Corps, was pronounced deceased along with her dog.

The Sheriff’s Office is advising the public never to tie rafts or tubes together when floating the river because if one floater experiences a problem, everyone else tied to them does as well.

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