Woman Dies Despite Daring Rescue From Raging River : Tragedy: The 20-year-old college student and two male friends decided on the spur of the moment to go rafting in the Santa Ana. Heroic efforts by Sheriff’s Department helicopter crew failed to save her.

A 20-year-old Fullerton College student who was pulled Friday night from the Santa Ana River after rafting in the rain-swollen waters died at UCI Medical Center in Orange four hours later, officials said Saturday.

Bonnie Davis of Anaheim was pronounced dead shortly before 11:30 p.m. Friday, officials said. The cause of death was freshwater drowning.

Davis was with her brother, Gary Davis, 21, and Todd Benkert, 20, both of Anaheim, when all three were thrown from an inflatable raft into the waterway. Both men were able to swim out of the strong currents to the river bank.

The three apparently decided to navigate the river on a whim, stopping at a local store to buy a raft, friends said. The trio are believed to have put the craft in the water at Yorba Regional Park and planned to float in the fast-moving water to Lakeview Avenue, unaware that the river contains spillways. The spillways, designed to keep debris from flowing down the river, create dangerous currents.

Ken Aldridge, a roommate of Davis and Benkert, said both men are athletic and enjoy sports, but does not recall that they ever discussed river rafting.

“I’ve never seen (them) do that before or talk about doing it,” he said.

Danny Cummings, 20, of Anaheim, who is another roommate of Benkert and Davis, said he was supposed to go rafting with them Friday but did not because he had a date.

“Me and Todd said we should do it (rafting) . . . and we caught up with Bonnie, and she said the same thing,” he said.

Cummings said the group never thought the excursion would be dangerous. To them it looked like “kind of a fun thing to do,” he said.

Jonathon Wilkes, lead dispatcher for the Anaheim Fire Department, said the river is not navigable and has extremely violent currents. It is not designed for recreational use.

“It’s never been considered a navigable river,” he said. “The river has been designed to be used for flood control purposes. There are no designated areas anywhere along the river where it is considered a recreation area. . . . It’s extremely dangerous.”

Among the heroes in Friday night’s dramatic rescue were two Anaheim police officers, John Winovich and William Cowhey, who maneuvered a police helicopter and plucked Bonnie Davis from the water.

Davis was swept more than two miles downstream after falling out of the raft. She was apparently tangled in rope and clinging to the raft, fire officials said.

After spotting the yellow raft, Winovich lowered his helicopter so close to the raging, muddy water that his windshield was covered with spray. Then his partner Cowhey ventured out onto one of the helicopter’s skids and grabbed the drifting raft, with the unconscious woman attached.

Saturday, Winovich downplayed his effort as well as suggestions from other officers that he should receive a medal for the rescue. He said his partner was “the real hero.”

“I just look at it as one of those things,” said Winovich, 41, a 19-year veteran of the department. “Any one of us in the (helicopter) detail would have done the same thing. It was just my turn to fly. I don’t look at it as really anything unusual.”

Winovich said there was “extreme” personal satisfaction in performing the rescue. Upon hearing of Davis’ death, the officer said: “I hate to see that happen to anybody. . . . We just try to do the best we can.”

Times staff writers Danny Sullivan and Henry Chu contributed to this report.