Searchers recover body of 6-year-old who fell into Clackamas River
MOUNT HOOD NATIONAL FOREST – A volunteer searcher found the body of 6-year-old Vinesa Snegur on Saturday, nearly one week after she fell into the Clackamas River.
According to Clackamas County Sheriff's Office Spokesman Sgt. James Rhodes, a person flagged down a deputy in Estacada at 1:50 p.m. to report they had found what they believed was the body of Vinesa Snegur.
Search and Rescue teams responded to the area, which is about 4 miles downstream from where Vinesa fell into the river, Rhodes said. A dive team recovered the body from the rocks of a shallow island in the middle of the river at 4 p.m. The state medical examiner took custody of her body.
Vinesa fell into the river on Sunday, Jan. 22 while playing in the snow with her parents about 30 miles east of Estacada, Ore. The family had to drive seven miles to the Ripplebrook Ranger Station to call for help because there is no cellphone service in the area.
Rhodes says her body was likely trapped underwater farther upstream from where she was found and was dislodged by high water levels.
Crews searched for the girl for 2 days, but suspended the search due to weather conditions and high water on Jan. 24. Divers located her sweater and her jacket hood underwater this week while family members found Vinesa's jacket on the bank of the river.
Vinesa attended first grade at Mill Park Elementary School in the David Douglas School District.
