Identity of Wapsipinicon River drowning victim released

CENTRAL CITY, Iowa (KCRG) - Officials have released the name of the person who died in a tubing incident on the Wapsipinicon River on Saturday.

The victim was identified as Mechele Horak, 47, of Marion.

At around 1:37 p.m., the Linn County Sheriff’s Office was sent to a report of a woman who had gone missing while tubing on the Wapsi. The person who made the report said that she had seen her friend’s tube floating by without the person with it. The caller required rescue from the south bank between the Paris Bridge on Sutton Road and a crossing over the river on Paris Road further downstream.

Rescue officials discovered the missing female, later identified as Horak, in the river at around 2:08 p.m. Officials attempted CPR and other lifesaving efforts in the vicinity. She was later pronounced dead at the scene at 2:30 p.m.

Copyright 2022 KCRG. All rights reserved.