WRIC Richmond News and Weather - Kayaker Drowns In James River
Member Center:
Authorities say the kayaker who drowned Saturday on the James River was 55-year-old Karen Abse of Midlothian. She died Saturday morning after getting caught up in logs and debris at the Hollywood Rapids, just up river of the Robert E. Lee Bridge in Richmond.
While her friends tried to help, a nearby photographer called 911. By the time rescuers arrived the kayak had popped up, but the victim was still trapped. They tell us it took nearly an hour of sifting through the logs and debris before they found her body.
Friends say Abse was an experienced kayaker. Fire officials tell us in the last 18 years there have been only two experienced kayakers who have drowned on this river.
