Woman Drowns after Being Trapped Against Log While Kayaking

The Missouri Highway Patrol says a 44-year-old woman drowned during the weekend when she was thrown from her kayak on the Black River.

The patrol says Vanessa Gutierrez, of Arnold, died Saturday when she was pinned against a submerged log and pulled under water.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports Reynolds County Coroner Jeff McSpadden said the woman’s body was recovered Sunday morning in water that was 2- or 3-feet deep.

The drowning was on at the Smiley Face take out, a mile south of Lesterville.