Award-winning chef Naomi Pomeroy, who starred on Top Chef Masters, has died at age 49 from a river tubing accident.
Pomeroy drowned Saturday evening in the Willamette River in Oregon, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office said. Her body was found days later in the river by people paddling in a canoe.
Portland restaurateurs are grieving the loss of the renowned chef, who helped put the city on the map as a culinary destination.
According to police, Pomeroy and two others were floating down the Willamette River in a fashioned raft of sorts, made of inner tubes and a paddle-board tied together. They hit an obstacle on the river and Pomeroy was “pulled under the water and held by the paddle board leash.”
The Corvallis Fire Department were the first emergency responders on the scene but they were “unable to recover Naomi,” police wrote in their statement. The two other people involved were found on the shore and transported to a boat launch.
Pomeroy’s husband Kyle Linden Webster gave more details on the fatal accident to the New York Times. He said he, Pomeroy and a friend were floating in two inner tubes and a paddle-board secured together when they hit a partially submerged branch.
All three of them were thrown into the water but Webster and the friend were able to make it to shore. When rescuers arrived, they were unable to retrieve Pomeroy’s body due to the strong currents, the Times reported.
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After the Corvallis Fire Department responded to the scene, officers from the Benton County Sheriff’s Office arrived and “quickly began searching downriver from the incident site,” police said. Authorities used sonar, underwater cameras and drones, but were unable to locate Pomeroy “due to heavy debris.”
Authorities searched for Pomeroy’s body for days with no sign of her until people in a canoe found her remains while paddling on the river on Wednesday.
Benton deputies responded to the area and found Pomeroy’s body on a shallow section of bedrock in the middle of the river in about one to two feet of water.
The sheriff’s office is warning people not to attach themselves to a paddle-board unless it has a quick-release leash, and advised against tying two or more inner tubes together, as doing so means each person should have a life-jacket.
The Oregon State Marine Board noted there has been an “emerging trend” in recent years of people dying due to the leash on their stand-up paddle-board (SUP) getting tangled in brush or other debris in rivers.
“Most ankle leashes used by SUP users are not designed for quick release,” Brian Paulsen, the agency’s boating safety program manager, said in a statement Tuesday. He said quick-release leashes, designed for moving water, are worn around the waist.
Pomeroy rose to prominence in the Portland food scene after opening the restaurant Beast in 2007.
The restaurant paved the way for Pomeroy to win a coveted James Beard award for best chef in the northwest in 2014, around the same time Portland was soaring in popularity as a travel destination for its food scene, natural beauty and quirky reputation. The restaurant closed during the coronavirus pandemic, but Pomeroy had just recently opened a new frozen custard shop.
Pomeroy was also known for her appearance on cooking shows, including Top Chef Masters, and owned the Portland cocktail bar Expatriate with her husband. The bar was closed Monday, KOIN reported, as mourners left flowers and remembrances stacked outside the business.
Heather Wallberg, who owns a restaurant across from Expatriate and has worked in the industry for over a decade, told KOIN that Pomeroy “made the Portland food scene what it is today.” She said she reached out to Expatriate to offer any help they need.
Pomeroy’s sudden death “reminds you of the fragility of life,” she said.
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer from Oregon issued a statement describing Pomeroy’s death as a tragic loss.
“Naomi was not just a fabulous chef and entrepreneur, but an amazing human being,” Blumenauer said. “Her impact went far beyond Portland, helping establish our leadership and reputation for food excellence. She will be greatly missed.”
— with files from The Associated Press