Teacher clings to log in stream for hours before death, OR cops say. ‘Heart is broken’
_fitted%20(1).png "Emily Hopfer died Nov. 24 after becoming trapped in a stream in Coos County, Oregon, deputies said. She was a teacher.")
A teacher was found clinging to a log in a cold creek for hours before her death in Oregon, deputies said.
Authorities got a text-to-911 message from an Apple device at about 4:20 p.m. Nov. 24, the Coos County Sheriff’s Office said.
Rescuers responded to the Doerner Fir Trailhead in the Burnt Mountain area where they found Emily Hopfer stuck in the stream.
Hopfer had been clinging to a log in the water for hours near the end of the trailhead, with no way out, deputies said.
Another person was also found at the scene, deputies said, and he was taken to a hospital.
A deputy got in a dry suit and used a rope system to reach Hopfer as it began to snow.
But she went into cardiac arrest as the deputy tried to move her, authorities said. After she was moved out of the water, rescuers performed CPR and gave her medicine, deputies said.
However, deputies said she died at the scene.
Deputies reminded the public to stay on established trails in unfamiliar areas.
The Doerner Fir Trailhead is in Norway, in southwestern Oregon.
Hopfer was a teacher at the Phoenix Charter School of Roseburg, the school said in a Facebook post.
“Our rising rock star, gone way too soon. This strong, vibrant, bright, and delightful Emily will be dearly missed as a teacher, a role model, and a friend,” Laurien Newton Frels commented.
“My heart is broken. Sending all our love to the hopper family,” Amy Martin said on the post.
This story was originally published November 27, 2024 at 11:45 AM with the headline "Teacher clings to log in stream for hours before death, OR cops say. ‘Heart is broken’."
