LOS PADRES FOREST
A Tennessee woman who was visiting Ventura County and planning to capture the beauty of Wheeler Gorge on canvas drowned in 6 inches of water Sunday after she slipped off a rock and fell into Matilija Creek, coroner’s officials said.
Gwendolyn Kay, 46, drowned in a shallow pool while she was scouting out a location to draw, said Senior Deputy Coroner Craig Stevens.
“She had arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday and had come up to paint and picture-take,” Stevens said.
Kay was with friends at the Wheeler Gorge campground in Los Padres National Forest but had walked off to do some drawing on her own, Stevens said.
“She had set up a spot on the rocks on one side of the creek and was walking back across when she slipped,” Stevens said.
Her friends were looking for their own spots to work when they came upon Kay’s body, lying face down in the shallow creek, according to Stevens.
An autopsy showed Kay died due to drowning, officials said.
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