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Body of missing kayaker found

Gray

AUDRA — Officials have found the body of the female kayaker who had been missing for more than a week and drowned on the Middle Fork River.

“The body of kayaker Jamie Lynn Gray was located and recovered late this afternoon, about 1 1/2 miles downstream from where she was last seen,” Lawrence Messina, communications director for the DNR and the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs, wrote in an email Monday evening.

“The family has been notified. Further information is expected Tuesday,” Messina said.

The kayaker had been identified as Gray, 41, of Hacker Valley, according to information previously provided by the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.

Gray was reported to be missing at approximately 2 p.m. on Feb. 9 after setting out in a party of 10 experienced kayakers.

Recovery efforts continued on the Middle Fork River in Barbour County Monday after a search Sunday by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Police and other responders yielded no sign of the kayaker.

“Aided by ropes and cables, personnel were able to re-enter the stretch of the Middle Fork below Audra State Park for the first time Sunday after rain and weather created hazardous conditions at the scene,” Messina wrote in a previous email. “Some 83 rescue personnel from multiple entities took part Sunday. The searchers cleared debris and deployed an underwater camera as part of their efforts.”

Gray was kayaking with a group of nine fellow paddlers on the Middle Fork River in Barbour County on Feb 9. At around 1:53 p.m. while about one half-mile below Audra State Park, Gray’s kayak capsized and she was swept downstream, Messina wrote. A short distance from where she capsized, Gray was swept under a large rock in the river and never resurfaced. Members of her group attempted to reach where she was last seen, but were unsuccessful.

Barbour County 911 was notified, and agencies responding to the scene included DNR Police, W.Va. State Police, Barbour County Sheriff’s Office, the Philippi, Belington and Junior Volunteer Fire departments as well as additional emergency units from outside Barbour County.

The rugged terrain of the area required responding personnel to cut a path into the area. Search efforts continued for several hours until nightfall Feb. 9, officials said.

DNR Police, State Police, and other personnel trained in water rescue and recovery returned to the area on Feb. 10 to continue the search. Over the course of that day, they encountered worsening weather, including heavy rains that caused the river levels to rise.

Conditions in that stretch of the Middle Fork became too dangerous conditions for rescue personnel, while shoreline searches were also conducted.

The river level rose even further on Feb. 11. The river gauge at Audra State Park at the time of the incident Feb. 9 measured levels at around 4 feet. It measured levels at nearly 9 feet by Feb. 11, preventing any personnel from entering the water at the scene since.

The W.Va. Division of Forestry and the Marion and Monongalia County offices of Emergency Services offered assistance including multiple drone aircraft and pilots to search the area and downstream from where the incident occurred.

Together, seven drones conducted 18 flights over a 6-mile stretch of the river and surrounding area.

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