On Friday evening at 5:30 pm, troopers in Galena were notified of a woman had fallen into the Yukon River and would fail to surface.

Troopers and local people from Galena responded to the scene to attempt retrieval by 6 pm.

The investigation at the  scene would find that 33-year-old Marie Sheldon had been sitting on a decommissioned barge on the river when she fell off into the river.

The search continued in the  area and at 7:30 pm searchers would discover Sheldon deceased in about eight feet of water.

Sheldon’s remains were recovered and sent to the State Medical Examiner for autopsy as to the circumstances of her drowning.

Sheldon’s next of kin were notified of her death.

  barge, drowning, river, sheldon, yukon