News:
The Kootenai County Sheriff's Department has recovered the body of a man who fell out of a canoe in the Spokane River near Post Falls, Idaho.  The sheriff's department received a 911 call shortly before 6 am, Thursday from a man who said he and a friend had just pushed off from shore at the east end of Corbin Park in Post Falls when the canoe flipped and both men were thrown into the water.  The caller said he held onto the canoe for a while and then got to shore, but that he last saw his friend floating just below the first set of rapids.  Rescue divers recovered the man's body at about 7 am just below the park.  Deputies say neither man was wearing a life jacket.

Update:
On 6/24/10 at 0550 hours, sheriff's office was dispatched to the Spokane River near Corbin Park for a canoe accident in which one person had drowned.  The investigation revealed that the victim and his friend planned to canoe the lower portion of the Spokane River below the Avista Dam.  Their plan was to put in at Corbin Park and paddle to the pleasantview bridge downstream a mile and then go to work at Buck Knives.  Operator told the sheiff's office that they put the canoe in at a point near the up river parking area where there was a calm pool of water.  The men put the canoe in the water and the swirling current cycled the around in the small pool and towards the main river channel and large rapids.  The operator stated they successfully paddled back to shore in an effort to avoid the large rapids and decided to pull themselves along the rocks (cliffs) and around a bend in the river and start their voyage.  The operator indicated that as they neared the eddy line in the river, the current caught the vessel and pulled them away from the rocks and immediately capsized the canoe.  The operator said he was able to swim a few feet and grab the rocks and work his way back to the safety of the shore.  He observed the victim breathing rapidly (stated "hyperventilating") being swept out into the main set of rapids and go downstream with a small child's PFD floating nearby.  One on shore, the operator said he ran around the point further downstream in the park calling for his friend but could no longer see him.  The operator went back to the canoe, donned a PFD that was not USCG approved and paddled down the river himself in an attempt to locate the victim.  Once he arrived at the Pleasantview Bridge, the operator was able to obtain his cell phone from his vehicle and call for assistance.  
Kootenai County Sheriff's Dept dive team members reponded to Corbin Park and the State Line boat launch.  The deputy responded to the State Line launch along with a few rescue divers, we navigated the river up to Corbin Park.  Meanwhile, Medstar air ambulance was requested to fly the Spokane River from State Line to Corbin Park in an attempt to locate the victim.  Medstar located the victim about a mile downstream from Corbin Park on the south side of the river.  The other rescue boat recovered the victim who was under four feet of water and transported him back to Corbin Park where medical personnel declared him deceased.
The investigation revealed that neither men were wearing a PFD.
Post Falls                    