Couple’s fishing trip turns tragic on Salmon River
Curtis Jackson
LEMHI COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI)—The Lemhi County Sheriff’s office said a woman died following a boating accident on the Salmon River on Monday. November 10, 2025.
According to a Lemhi County Sheriff’s news release, Arlen Obrien, 76, and Judy Obrien, 75, of Carmen, were fishing when their drift boat lodged on some rocks. While trying to get the boat off the rocks, they fell overboard. It’s estimated they were in the water for nearly 10 minutes before reaching the riverbank.
The sheriff’s office received a call around 4:23 p.m. about the accident and was told CPR was being performed on the female victim. They were located approximately three miles upstream from the Tower Creek boat launch.
The Sheriff’s office said Judy was unresponsive when emergency responders arrived and continued life-saving measures. She was pronounced dead after arriving at Steele Memorial Medical Center. They said she died from accidental drowning.
Neither of them was wearing a lifejacket. The boat was recovered on Tuesday by the Lemhi County Sheriff’s Office and Salmon Search and Rescue.