Man dies in rafting accident on Yellowstone River

Mon., July 18, 2016

Associated Press

BILLINGS – Authorities have released the name of a man who drowned after a rafting accident on the Yellowstone River west of Columbus.

Stillwater County Sheriff Cliff Brophy identified the victim Monday as 47-year-old Lorne Speakerworth, of the Worden and Lockwood areas.

Officials received a 911 call Sunday afternoon from a second man who was in the raft but was able to get to shore after the boat overturned.

Brophy says someone found Speakerworth’s body about a mile and a half downriver about half an hour later. The man was not wearing a life jacket.

Speakerworth’s death has been ruled an accidental drowning.

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Man dies in rafting accident on Yellowstone River

Jesse Tinsley

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