Portland girl dies after being swept out to sea near Cannon Beach

PORTLAND — A fifth-grade Portland girl visiting Cannon Beach with her family died last week after she was swept out to sea north of Haystack Rock.

Rescuers, including guardsmen onboard a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, found Lily Markwell in the ocean after being called to the scene Thursday. Markwell was brought to shore and airlifted to a hospital, but was pronounced dead, according to a GoFundMe page and an announcement from the school Markwell attended.

Markwell was a student at ACCESS, Portland Public School’s program for gifted and talented students. The kindergarten through 5th grade program is housed at Vestal Elementary School at 161 NE 82nd Avenue. A vigil is planned for 7 p.m. Monday at the school, according to the school’s Facebook page.

Markwell’s death comes a year and a half after a similar tragedy rocked the Vestal Elementary School community.

In January 2020, Vestal Elementary first-grader Lola Stiles died after being swept away by a sneaker wave on the coast when her family was staying at a cabin at Cape Falcon, between Seaside and Manzanita. Her four-year-old brother William, who went by Bill, also died after being swept into the ocean. His body was never recovered.

“It is impossible to imagine that another young child who attended our Vestal school, even as a student of ACCESS, is now gone,” the school said in a Facebook post Saturday.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Markwell’s family pay for medical and funeral expenses. More than $20,000 had been donated as of Monday.