NE Oregon swimmer, 18, drowns in Columbia River

An 18-year-old northeast Oregon man drowned while swimming in the Columbia River on Sunday afternoon, Morrow County sheriff’s deputies said.

A marine deputy loading a patrol boat at the Irrigon Marina was informed around 3:30 p.m. of a swimmer in distress, deputies said.

The marine deputy checked the swim area and was unable to locate the man, identified as Dylan Jones of Irrigon.

Deputies responded to assist in the search, launching their patrol boat, and checked the area several times, with a fisherman’s help, looking for the missing swimmer.

Columbia Dive Rescue arrived on scene around 4:15 p.m. and immediately put a diver in the water. Jones was quickly recovered and CPR was started. He was taken by Morrow County Ambulance to Good Shepherd Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, deputies said,

The marine patrol wanted to remind those swimming in the Columbia during the current hot spell “to use extreme caution,” as “the water temperature is still in the low 60s on the surface,” deputies said in a news release.