Family outing ends in tragedy when boat flips on Alaska creek, killing mother

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — An Alaska woman died on Sunday during a family boating outing when their vessel capsized, authorities said.

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According to a news release from the Alaska State Troopers, Candi Hendrickson, 40, of Central, died in Birch Creek.

Troopers said that Hendrickson and her husband, Jacob Hendrickson, 41, and their 6- and 14-year-old children were boating on Birch Creek when the aluminum riverboat, equipped with an inboard motor, flipped at about 4:45 p.m. local time, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

“Birch Creek is swollen with excessive water that can hide obstacles in the water increasing the risk to boaters,” trooper spokesperson Tim DeSpain said in a statement.

In an email to the Daily News, troopers spokesperson Austin McDaniel said that the boat flipped after hitting a riverbank on a turn. Candi Hendrickson became trapped under the boat while her husband and children were thrown out of the vessel, he added.

A SuperCub aircraft based in Central flew over the area and was able to locate Jacob Hendrickson and the two children but was unable to land and pick them up, state troopers said. The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center was also contacted during the course of the rescue, KTUU-TV reported.

Local search parties responded and rescued the man and his two children, according to the television station. Candi Hendrickson’s body was later located, according to the television station.

Birch Creek is a waterway that is 125 miles in length from the Fairbanks area to the Yukon Flats country, the Daily News reported. Central, located near Yukon Flats, has a population of 60 people.