LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — Authorities say a Longview, Wash., father who couldn’t swim rescued his young daughter from the Columbia River but then drowned himself.
Law enforcement officials say 30-year-old Alejandro Vicente-Lopez was relaxing with family members at Willow Grove Park on Monday afternoon when he saw his daughter struggling in the water.
Cowlitz County Coroner Tim Davidson says the man grabbed his daughter and pulled her to a pier in shallow water. The coroner says the man then stepped back into the Columbia River’s shipping channel, which is more the 40 feet deep, and couldn’t swim out.
A county dive team recovered his body about 3 p.m. Monday about 60 to 70 feet from shore.
The county sheriff’s office says neither the victim nor his daughter was wearing life vests.
