Just why did a 59-year-old woman fall off a yacht to her death in the cold harbor waters before midnight during a post-parade party in Orange County’s Huntington Harbour?
And was this death a tragic accident or something more sinister?
Huntington Beach authorities Tuesday were investigating the apparent drowning of the victim who may have tumbled off the yacht and was found dead near Huntington Harbour shortly after the annual holiday boat parade.
Karen de Wolf-Brown of Quail Valley in Riverside County was found in the water about 11:15 p.m. Saturday, according to Jaimee Blashaw of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
She had been aboard a 32-foot yacht docked at Peter’s Landing, Blashaw said.
There was no word from authorities if liquor or drugs may have been ingested by the victim or other people at the party.
Wolf-Brown was attending a party on the boat, and most of the passengers had left earlier Saturday night, said Huntington Beach Marine Safety Lt. Mike Bartlett.
Her friends later realized she was not with them, and the group went back to the boat to look for her, Bartlett said.
Investigators were still trying to determine how and why the woman wound up in the water, said Huntington Beach police Officer Angela Bennett.
–City News Service