Two families have been hit with heartbreaking losses. In the past two days, two people have drowned in the Spokane River in Post Falls.
On Friday around 6:00 p.m., a woman and her child went into the river at Corbin Park. They were in a kayak. It flipped over. The woman’s husband, 35-year-old Luke Gardner, jumped in to save them. The child was wearing a life jacket. Gardner and the woman were not.
“The kids and the mother made it safely back to shore, but unfortunately the dad did not,” said Kootenai County Fire & Rescue Chief Chris Way. People on shore believed Gardner got out safely as well. After family and friends started looking for him, authorities were called. An hour after he went missing, he was found. According to the sheriff’s office, he was taken to the shore. He was pronounced dead at the scene.