Palm Springs Woman Dies Tubing Colorado-Enhanced Whitewater River

The body of a woman who was last seen Sunday tubing rapids on the Whitewater River was discovered Monday morning two miles downstream in a settling pond, a Cabazon-based sheriff's sergeant said.

Tammi Lynn Sherlock, 46, of Palm Springs, was identified as the deceased, Riverside County sheriff's and coroner's officials said Monday afternoon.

A possible drowning was reported about 3 p.m. Sunday and Palm Springs police and fire personnel responded to the Whitewater River, east of Tipton Road in unincorporated Palm Springs, Sgt. Sean Bahash of the sheriff's Cabazon Station said.

The flow of the Whitewater River there is controlled in part by the Coachella Valley Water District, and it is powered by imported flow from the Colorado River Aqueduct north of Interstate 10, before the river reaches Palm Springs.

A witness told investigators Sherlock had been "riding the rapids in an inner tube along the rapidly moving water and disappeared from sight," Bahash said.

Police and fire personnel searched and believed the victim was trapped underneath the water in an area known as "the slide," Bahash said.

Deputies from the Cabazon Station responded and assumed the investigation.

About 8 a.m. Monday, Cabazon Station investigators tracked up and downstream from the last known location, Bahash said.

Divers from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department's Underwater Search & Recovery Team searched underwater at the slide while Coachella Valley Water District personnel slowed the water flow enough to make the underwater search safer, Bahash said.

Investigators and divers continued a foot search downstream, and about 9:45 a.m. Monday a deceased female was located with the help of Coachella Valley Water District employees, Bahash said.

The deceased woman was found in a collecting pond approximately two miles southeast from where she was last seen, Bahash said.

An autopsy has been scheduled, Bahash said.

"Swimming or rafting in the Whitewater River run off is not only dangerous but is prohibited," the Riverside County Sheriff's Department warned.

A safer and legal alternative is available north of Interstate 10 and the Colorado River Aqueduct at the .

Anyone with further information about the incident was urged to call Investigator Jacqueline Lane at the Cabazon Station, (951) 922-7100, the Riverside County Sheriff's Dispatch Center 1-(800) 950-2444, or email CabazonStation@RiversideSheriff.org.