BEND, OR -- Bend Police and Fire responded to a report of a person found in the water near McKay Park and the Whitewater Park, just after 2:15 p.m. Thursday. A 911 caller from the Colorado Avenue Footbridge reported seeing a body in the water and directed a kayaker to it. A male was located in the center channel of the river, near the footbridge.  

By 2:20 p.m., bystanders had pulled a man from the water and police officers and fire personnel conducted CPR for more than 10 minutes. The person was transported to St. Charles Bend. No further information on his condition is known at this time.  

An investigation is ongoing. The person’s identity at this point is not known. No one at McKay Park or in the water at the time saw the man go underwater, and it is unknown where the man may have entered the river or how long he was underwater.   

Bend Police put a drone in the air to look for additional victims, boats or floats. No additional victims or abandoned watercraft were found. 

The Colorado Avenue Bridge was closed in both directions for about 30 minutes.  

More information will be released as it becomes available.  

Bend Police thank Bend Fire & Rescue, as well as bystanders, for their assistance at the scene.  

 

UPDATE -- (9:30 P.M.) After an investigation, Bend Police identified the man who was rescued from the Deschutes River on Thursday afternoon is 56-year-old Bend resident Joseph Clarence Torkelson. 

Torkelson was apparently floating the river with a roommate. He and the roommate put in to the river upstream in Bend. Instead of staying to the left to ride through the gentle rapids at Colorado Avenue, Torkelson somehow ended up on the wrong side of the buoys and was sucked under and through the dam. Shortly thereafter, Torkelson was found and pulled from the river. 

As of Thursday evening, Torkelson remains in the ICU at St. Charles Bend. 

 

UPDATE -- (07/22/22) According to Bend Police, Jospeh Torkelson died from his injuries. 

Bend Parks & Rec released the following statement Friday afternoon:

“On behalf of all of us at Bend Park and Recreation District, our thoughts are with the family and friends of Joseph C. Torkelson. It always saddens us when a patron gets hurt at any of our facilities.

The Deschutes River has inherent hazards and dangers and unfortunately, recreating in the river can never be without risk. We have taken measures to caution river users of hazards at the Bend Whitewater Park and strongly encourage all river users to heed these precautions.

River floaters should never enter the whitewater (center) channel from upriver. To help prevent this, a prominent boom on the river and signage provide warning and a deterrent. It is imperative to abide by river safety precautions in flat water as well as in active currents and rapids. Rivers users at the whitewater park or elsewhere should always wear a lifejacket, never float the river while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and never tether watercraft together.

I thank responders and bystanders as well as the hospital personnel for their efforts.”

-Don Horton, Executive Director, Bend Park and Recreation District