Third person presumed dead in boating accident on Columbia River

YAKIMA, Wash. — A third Yakama Nation tribal member is presumed to have drowned in the Columbia River near Wishram, Wash., after a fishing boat capsized in high winds and heavy swells this morning.

Harry Smiskin, Yakama Tribal Council chairman, confirmed the four fishermen on the boat were enrolled Yakamas who lived on the reservation. The bodies of two have been recovered.

The fourth fisherman was rescued from the river, suffering some minor hypothermia.

The U.S. Coast Guard provided a helicopter that searched for the missing fisherman without success for two hours.

"As far as I know, it has turned into a body recovery mission," said Petty Officer Erin Lopez, a search coordinator with the Coast Guard in Portland.

Lopez said there are sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 40 mph on the river, with swells of six to eight feet.

The 18-foot boat carrying the four fishermen capsized in high winds and swells as it approached a dock about 7:45 a.m.

Smiskin said conditions are such that search boats have not been able to get on the river to search for the missing man.

He said the Yakama Nation has requested the Warm Springs tribal rough water search and rescue team assist the Yakama Nation in a search. Some 60 tribal law enforcement and fisheries program staff set up a command post this afternoon at Celilo Village.

In May 2008, three Yakama fishermen drowned on the Columbia River.

-- David Lester