Missing woman’s body is found at Lake Mead

Monday, June 14, 2004 | 11:04 a.m.

A Lake Mead visitor on a personal water craft discovered the body of 36-year-old Terri Ann Selden shortly after noon on Friday.

The visitor was riding a craft near a line of tires at Lake Mead Marina and notified National Park Service rangers after spotting Selden, missing since Wednesday afternoon.

Selden, her 15-year-old daughter, Chelsea Petersen, and their 6-month-old cocker spaniel, Paige, had been on an air mattress, which was blown away by winds. Neither the mother nor the daughter wore life jackets, National Park Service spokeswoman Roxanne Dey said.

The last time Chelsea saw her mother it was as she turned to swim more than 100 yards for the Lake Mead shore at her mother's urging. Family members said Selden was not a strong swimmer.

The two had slipped off the air mattress after winds had pushed them away from shore, leaving the dog on top in an effort to weight it down. A gust of wind flipped the air mattress out of their grasp.

Selden loved animals, family members said, and apparently went to look for Paige, a puppy who replaced the family's first cocker spaniel, who died about a year ago, said Chris Petersen, Chelsea's father.

The puppy was rescued paddling in the water about half an hour after a family fishing at the lake found the air mattress empty.

Park Service rangers found the daughter safe on shore. She swam for 45 minutes in the choppy lake waters to safety, Dey said.

Divers spent Wednesday afternoon and most of Thursday searching for Selden near Saddle Cove, where the air mattress was spotted empty.

Park Service rangers warned visitors that backyard pool floats and air mattresses are not safe for use in bodies of water the size of Lake Mead. They also reminded visitors to wear life jackets.