Two Teens Drown In Klamath River

Two Klamath Falls teenagers drowned after jumping from a highway bridge into the Klamath River with their boots and clothes on.

Michael J. Howard, 17, and Colin Clayton Garrett, 15, who were working on a ranch for the summer, had gone to the popular swimming hole where Oregon 66 crosses the Klamath River on Monday evening to meet some girls, said Sheriff Carl Burkhart.

Howard and Garrett told James M. Anderson, another Klamath Falls teen, that they didn’t swim well, Burkhart said.

Anderson jumped in and swam toward shore and looked back in time to see Howard and Garrett jump into the river at the same time.

“They came up and started struggling,” Burkhart said. “At least one girl and Anderson went back to try to help them.

“But they were dragging them down. They had to break away and come back.”

Burkhart said the boys’ clothes and boots probably made it harder for them to swim.

Members of the Klamath County Dive Team recovered the two boys about a half-hour after they went underwater, but rescuers were unable to revive them. The boys were pronounced dead at Merle West Medical Center in Klamath Falls.