Operator was traveling mid river, s/b (downstream) on the colorado river just north of the laughlin bridge (nv sr-163) at between 15 and 20 mph.  Operator was pulling an inflatable tube occupied by the 14 y/o victim, and had an observer (his daughter, 14 y/o) seated directly behind him.  

Operator slowed and made a turn port (east) to head back toward davis camp (bullhead city, az) where the family and friends had been staying.  As they turned, victim fell off the tube.  Operator circled around and headed back downstream (south) to recover victim.  At the time, operator didn''t find anything unusual of the fall.  

As operator approached victim, he didn''t see that they were approaching a bridge pillar.  Victim was able to get a hold of the tow rope, but was not immediately to get back onto the tube.  The pwc, with operator and tuber1 still on it, ended up on the west side of the pillar with the tube and victim, on the east side of the pillar, with the tow rope preventing the tube or pwc to drift free.  Due to being hung up on the bridge pillar, they were unable to maneuver the pwc, ultimately causing operator and tuber1 to fall off.  

Bystanders immediately responded from the beach and recovered operator but were not able to immediately locate victim.  Tuber1 was recovered by another boater in the area.  After a few moments of searching, bystanders located victim pined between the tube and bridge pillar, just under the water surface.  Bystanders pulled victim from the water and immediately started cpr. They took victim to the riverside resort and casino boat dock, where she was eventually turned over to ems personnel from clark county fire department and american medical response (amr)

Victim was taken to western arizona regional medical center (warmc) where several more minutes of life saving measures were performed.  Victim succumbed to her injuries before she could be transferred to a las vegas, nv trauma center.

Upon physical examination of victim, investigating officers didn''t observe any obvious trauma.  The mohave county (az) medical examiner would later classify the cause of death as a drowning.  

There was no indication of equipment failure, reckless operation or impairment.  All were wearing united states coast guard approved personal floatation devices that were properly fitted and in good condition.  No other injuries were sustained.

Colorado River
Laughlin                      