An afternoon outing trip for eight young adults on Plum Island on Tuesday turned in tragedy before they even knew it. Boston Herald, NECN, and the Eagle Tribune report that all eight were swept into the Merrimack River by a riptide that overtook a sandbar on the island where they had lingered enjoying the unusually hot day.
Seven of them were rescued, but a 22-year old woman from Lynn was still missing and is now presumed that she drowned in the river. The Coast Guard search for her was called off yesterday, Boston Herald reported.
The authorities think that Marinna Khon, 22, might have been swept out to sea by the strong currents, since rescue crews were not able to find her.
A memorial was held for her at the beach.
The young woman had just graduated from Syracuse University, and tragedy of what had happened was fully felt by her family and friends.
“I lost my daughter,” her mother, Sokhan Kich, told reporters, “I don’t know what to say.”
Since the hot weather came before the season was officially open, there were no lifeguards on duty at the time.
Usually lifeguards start their duty on Memorial Day weekend, but Newburyport Harbormaster Paul Hogg said that on nice days people were “going down to the beach.”
“People from the area know it’s really dangerous,” he said, “The tide was starting to come in, so the water was getting higher and higher and higher.”
According to Hogg, those who are unlucky to be caught and dragged by the tide should stop from panicking. “If it happens, just think about keeping your head above water. Just float with it, because you’re not going to beat it,” he said.
The search for the young woman has been called off, and the decision has been a difficult on, the Coast Guard told reporters in a statement. “As a life-saving service, it’s never easy to end a search with someone still missing at sea,” they said.
Our thoughts are with Marinna Khon’s family and friends.
