PORT ANGELES — Police are investigating the death of a woman who was spotted floating in Port Angeles Harbor on Tuesday morning after swimming into the water fully clothed.
The woman, described only as a white female, had not been identified by investigators later Tuesday.
Her body will undergo an autopsy today to determine the cause of death, Clallam County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Lauren Erickson said.
Witnesses standing at the Valley Creek Estuary near the west end of Front Street said they watched a woman walk down the creek to the beach, wade into the water and start swimming to a sailboat anchored offshore about 9 a.m., Port Angeles Police Detective Cpl. Jack Lowell said.
“They asked her if she was OK, (and) she said yes,” Lowell said.
Grabbed a bow line
The woman swam to the boat, which was unoccupied, and grabbed a bow line, he said.
The people on shore again asked the woman if she was all right, and she said she was, Lowell said.
The woman swam around the boat, but did not reappear, Lowell said.
After about a minute, the bystanders walked along the shore and saw her face-down in the water, Lowell said.
