NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Search teams recovered the body of a woman who fell off a raft Sunday night.
The Newport News Police Department said people found her body Monday in the James River about a mile south of where the 58-year-old woman went into the water.
The U.S. Coast Guard said it received a call about the incident around 8:35 p.m. Sunday. The woman fell off a raft near the Warwick Yacht and Country Club and didn't resurface.
They said the woman and a man went into the water on an inflatable boat. Once they got to the mouth of Deep Creek Harbor, investigators said that boat overturned.
“They went out to the mouth of Deep Creek Harbor, going toward James River and at that time the boat overturned and two persons went into the water," said Newport News Assistant Police Chief Mike Grinstead. "One was able to get back to the boat and get back to call us, that is how we received the call.”
They said the clothing on the body matches the description of what the woman wore Sunday night. On Friday afternoon, Newport News police confirmed the identity of the woman as Charlotte Joanne Bachelor.
A Coast Guard boat from Coast Guard Station Portsmouth and a helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City were part of the search, along with assets from the Newport News Fire Department, Newport News Police Department, and Virginia Marine Resources Commission.
Officials searched 518 square miles for her, for more than 16 hours.
Additionally, resources and public safety workers from York County, James City County, and Suffolk were part of the search efforts.