Woman drowns at Sonoma Coast State Park

A woman drowned Friday afternoon in the ocean off Goat Rock at Sonoma Coast State Park, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.

Lt. John Molinari said the woman, in her 70s, was near the surf with a friend when she was caught off guard by a wave, lost her balance on the beach and was swept out to sea.

After trying to bring the woman back to shore, her friend alerted a state parks lifeguard, who went into the ocean, retrieved the woman and immediately started CPR, Molinari said.

Attempts to revive her were unsuccessful and the woman was pronounced dead at 1:32 p.m., about 40 minutes after the Sheriff’s Office received its first report of the emergency.

Photographs of the initial rescue showed at least nine responders surrounding the woman on the beach as CPR was being administered.

Steve Baxman, chief of the Monte Rio Fire Protection District, said the state parks lifeguard was just pulling the woman out of the water when his agency arrived at the scene.

Monte Rio firefighters assisted with CPR on the woman, who had been found face down, according to Baxman. No other details about the victim, including her name, were immediately available.

Other responding agencies included Cal Fire, the Bodega Bay Fire Protection District and the Sheriff’s Office, which sent its helicopter, Henry 1, to assist.

You can reach Staff Writer J.D. Morris at 707-521-5337 or jd.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @thejdmorris.