Hiker who drowned near Harris Park identified
By Dan Thesman on Monday, May 1st, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
MILTON-FREEWATER – The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office has identified the hiker who drowned Saturday afternoon in the Walla Walla River near Harris Park as Kerry Alan Ronald Ganson, 46, of Milton-Freewater.
Dispatch received a report of a body floating down the Walla Walla River near Harris Park Bridge at 1:55 p.m. The caller reported bystanders hand been able to pull Ganson from the water and that CPR was being performed.
Paramedics were dispatched and arrived on scene at approximately the same time as a UCSO sergeant arrived. Paramedics took over medical procedures. Attempts to revive Ganson were unsuccessful and he was pronounced deceased at the scene.
According to a friend of Ganson’s, they had been hiking up the south fork of the Walla Walla River about a mile or so east of the Harris Park Campground. The friend said Ganson was attempting to cross the river when the current swept him off his feet. Ganson began to float down the river and the friend lost sight of him. The friend ran down the trail, back to his vehicle, and drove to the Harris Park Bridge where people had pulled Ganson out of the river and began CPR.
Ganson’s next of kin have been notified and his body released to Munselle-Rhodes Funeral Home in Milton-Freewater.
