Dad dives into Oregon river to save 7-year-old daughter, cops say. Neither resurface

When a 7-year-old girl’s flotation device flipped Tuesday night on an Oregon river, her father dove in to bring her to shore, sheriff’s officials say.

But neither ever resurfaced in the 8:30 p.m. incident, onlookers told deputies, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Neither were wearinglife jackets.

Rescuers pulled the father and, later, the daughter from the Sandy River downstream from Dabney State Recreation Area east of Portland, deputies said.

Both were pronounced dead at the hospital, KPTV reported. Their names have not been released.

Counselors assisted the family at the scene, sheriff’s officials said.

The deaths follow the July 10 drowning of a 33-year-old swimmer and the July 3 drowning of a 21-year-old swimmer on the Sandy River. They also were not wearing life jackets.

“Life jackets save lives!” deputies wrote. “Life jackets can be borrowed for free at several popular parks and boat ramps across Multnomah County.”

This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 10:43 AM with the headline "Dad dives into Oregon river to save 7-year-old daughter, cops say. Neither resurface."