Body of former top chef Naomi Pomeroy found after dinghy accident

Top chef alum Naomi PomeroyHer body was recovered four days after her tragic dinghy accident.

Pomeroy died on Saturday, July 13, after drowning in the Willamette River in Oregon. The 49-year-old was tied to a paddleboard while her husband, Kyle Linden-Websterand a third person were on tubes attached to each other.

When they encountered strong currents near river mile 132 in Corvallis, Oregon, just upstream from the Mary’s River, Pomeroy “was pulled underwater and was unable to free himself due to the paddleboard leash,” the Benton County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) announced Tuesday, July 16.

When the Corvallis Fire Department arrived on the scene, they were unable to recover her body, but were able to locate Webster and the third person safely on shore.

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When the BCSO joined the search, they began searching downriver for Pomeroy on land and water. Finally, on Wednesday, July 17, canoeists on the Willamette River discovered a body around 10 a.m. and called 911, the sheriff’s office. says a press release Later that day.

“Shortly thereafter, BCSO marine officers arrived and located a dead woman on a shallow section of bedrock in the middle of the river in approximately 12 to 24 inches of water,” the Wednesday press release continued. “Based on the victim’s description, the woman was identified as Naomi Pomeroy, who has been missing since July 13, 2024. Officers transported Naomi to a funeral home and notified her family of the recovery.”

Before her death, Portland native Pomeroy was a big name in Oregon’s culinary scene, having opened her first restaurant, Beast, in the city in 2007. Two years later, she was named one of the gastronomyThe best new chefs.

In 2013, she and her husband opened a cocktail bar in Portland called Expatriate. The following year, she won a James Beard Award for Best Female Chef in the Northwest and Pacific.

While Beast closed in 2020, Pomeroy stayed busy, turning the space into a market and bistro called Ripe Cooperative, which closed in 2022. She opened Cornet Custard, an ice cream shop, in May and plans to open a French restaurant next door.