Body recovered from Washington river
Tim Willert
A body believed to be that of missing John Burroughs High School
student Alisa Belcourt was recovered Friday morning from a river near
Leavenworth, Wash., authorities said.
The body was discovered about 9:30 a.m., less than 100 yards from
the site where Alisa fell from an inflatable raft and disappeared
into the Wenatchee River on Aug. 13, Chelan County Sheriff’s Deputy
Mark Mann said by telephone Friday.
“We believe it’s probably her,” Mann said. “However, our coroner
will have to confirm that.”
Chelan County Coroner Gina Fino could not be reached for comment
Friday.
Mann said the body was recovered by deputies on the swift water
rescue team, and appeared to be that of a young female.
“There are no other bodies missing in the river at this time,” he
said.
Alisa, 15, was visiting her father, who lives in the Seattle
suburb of Redmond, at the time of the accident.
According to initial newspaper reports, Alisa was one of seven
people -- mostly family members -- who were rafting when two of the
rafts flipped in a rough part of the river, spilling five people into
the rapids. Four of the five were rescued.
Family members could not be reached for comment Friday. Alisa’s
mother and father were notified as soon the body was recovered, Mann
said.
Word of Alisa’s disappearance last week shocked the Burroughs High
community and those closest to the honor student, who was about to
begin her junior year.