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Poudre River Drowning Victim Was Fort Collins Resident

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) - A 26-year-old woman became the third person to die in the Poudre River in less than two weeks.

Rebecca Knight, of Fort Collins, drowned after being thrown from a private raft. She was identified by the Larimer County's coroner's office on Thursday.

Knight was one of four people in the raft when it overturned Wednesday afternoon somewhere near the Mishawaka Amphitheatre in Poudre Canyon.

After the woman was found downstream she was airlifted to the Medical Center of the Rockies where she died. The others in the raft weren't injured.

Rapid snowmelt has the Cache la Poudre River flowing through Poudre Canyon and into Fort Collins at nearly five times its historic average for this time of year.

On Memorial Day a man and his 14-year-old nephew drowned after they fell in the river while on a fishing trip in Poudre Canyon. High, swift moving water from rapid snowmelt is believed to have played a role in both tragedies.

The Larimer County Sheriff's Office said they are rethinking their decision to allow recreational activities on the river in light of this most recent death.

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