Rough weather causes drowning in Lake Mead

Friday, July 16, 2004 | 9:36 a.m.

Lake Mead claimed another drowning victim Thursday afternoon as a brewing storm blew a 27-year-old New York woman, who was not wearing a life jacket, off a plastic raft.

A boater on shore tried to warn that woman and one other not to float on the lake as an afternoon thunderstorm hit the area, National Park Service spokeswoman Roxanne Dey said.

The Clark County Coroner's office early today said it had identified the woman but was not releasing her name because the agency had not yet notified relatives.

Dey, however, said National Park Service rangers had located and informed a relative that the woman had drowned. The woman was identified as Olivia Tamiko Aaron of Valley Stream, N.Y., which was the name on a driver's license found by a park ranger shortly after the incident.

The victim's friend is a 27-year-old Las Vegas resident, Dey said.

Neither woman was wearing a life jacket when they set out on a flimsy plastic air mattress, Dey said.

Winds pushed the raft with the two women more than 100 feet from shore at the Special Events Area of Lake Mead.

The man who had warned the women not to go into the water could see they were in trouble, Dey said. He jumped into a small boat and attempted to tow the raft to shore.

About 90 feet from the shoreline, a gust of wind blew Aaron off the raft and she disappeared into the water, Dey said.

The boater called park service dispatchers at 3:26 p.m. Rangers searched for the woman and found her body at 4:03 p.m. Rangers estimated Tamiko had been in the water at least 40 minutes, Dey said.

Aaron's friend and the boater returned to shore.

This is the sixth drowning at Lake Mead this year, Dey said.

"Park rangers want to remind visitors on the lake to wear life jackets," Dey said. "Rangers also want to discourage visitors from bringing pool toys to the lake to float on.

"I wouldn't go out on the lake today, (even) in a regular boat, because of the weather conditions," Dey said Thursday.

The most recent drowning occurred June 19 when 57-year-old Kenneth Funk of Las Vegas dove into the lake to save his wife, 56-year-old Annette Funk, who was not wearing a life jacket and was not a good swimmer.

After treading water for 40 minutes in the choppy lake with his wife, Kenneth Funk told her to let him go, because the life jacket he'd put on her couldn't keep both of them afloat.

His body has not been found.

On June 9, a 36-year-old mother, Terri Ann Selden, also drowned at Lake Mead after she urged her 15-year-old daughter, Chelsea Petersen, to swim for the shore while the mother frantically searched for the family's 6-month-old white cocker spaniel after winds overturned their air mattress.

Neither the woman nor the teen was wearing a life jacket.

Chelsea Petersen, a strong swimmer, and the puppy survived. The mother's body was recovered five days later.

"Drowning takes just a few minutes," Dey said. "It is worth the time it takes to put on a life jacket before going out on the lake."