Camper dies in Columbia River

KENNEWICK — A Kennewick man drowned in the Columbia River late Saturday night while camping on a boat anchored at an island in the river.

Friends found Jeff Ethredge, 48, in the water near the boat early Sunday morning, said Candice Hermanson, Franklin County’s chief deputy coroner. He is the third person to drown in the region this month.

Ethredge and his friends had spent Saturday boating on the river. As darkness fell, they anchored at Indian Island, just above where the Snake River flows into the Columbia and offshore of Sacajawea State Park.

Witnesses said Ethredge got up in the middle of the night to relieve himself, but no one checked to see him return. It wasn’t until his friends woke up that he was discovered in the water.

Ethredge’s drowning likely occurred when he stepped off the wrong side of the boat and fell into deeper water than he expected, Hermanson said. No autopsy is planned, though Ethredge’s blood will be sent out for toxicology testing. His friends said they were all drinking alcohol that night.

“It’s just a bad accident,” Hermanson said. “But whenever alcohol is involved, you can’t rule it out as a factor.”

On June 9, 21-year-old Antonio Hermosillo Jr. of Prosser drowned in the Yakima River when he was caught in an undertow while fishing. Dylan Jones, 18, of Irrigon died June 7 after being pulled from the Columbia River where he had been swimming with friends.