CHILLICOTHE, Ill. — Sarah Gray, a 45-year-old woman who went missing Thursday evening after kayaking in the Illinois River, has been found dead, according to Illinois Conservation Police.
Gray’s husband said she went kayaking up the river towards the RiverPlex but decided to turn around due to ice in the river. He said she never returned after turning around.
Gray was wearing a yellow life jacket, just as she was when she went missing, when she was found.
The Peoria County Sheriff’s Office deployed two drones and were also assisted by Life Flight and Peoria Fire Department when they received the report Gray was missing.
The Peoria Fire Department, according to Batallion Chief Steve Rada, could not venture onto the river Thursday night due to the thickness of the ice, so their search resumed Friday morning.
Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood said Gray and her kayak were found Friday morning at 9:14 a.m.
According to Harwood, Gray had “gotten hung up in the ice a short distance from the shore, and was able to free her kayak; for reasons unknown, she ended up in the water.”
Autopsy results showed that Gray suffered rapid hypothermia, and drowned. Foul play is not suspected.
