Woman who died in paddleboarding accident in Wisconsin identified

Officials have determined the identity of a woman who drowned in a paddle boarding accident near Siren, Wisconsin last week.

Jessica M. Lindberg, 35, of Prior Lake, died Thursday after falling from her paddle board on Crooked Lake near Siren, according to a news release from the Burnett County Sheriff’s Office.

Shortly before 3 p.m. on Thursday, the dispatch center received a call from a child who said that “a woman had fallen off her paddle board and he was unable to help her,” the press release said.

A passing kayaker and a Siren Fire Department “lifeguard” were able to bring Lindberg to shore and begin life-saving measures. She was taken to North Air Care at Burnett County Airport, where she was pronounced dead, the release said.

Lindberg, who worked at the Mystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake, grew up in Siren and graduated from Northwood Technical College. According to her obituary, “she loved working with people and she held many different customer service jobs that allowed her to do just that.” She also loved music and played the saxophone, her obituary states.

“Jess was kind and compassionate, and she also had a wicked sense of humor,” her obituary reads. “She loved to tell stories and chat with everyone. She made friends with people in every city she lived in and every place she worked, and you could hardly walk anywhere within a 100-mile radius without someone calling out, ‘Hey, Jess!'”

Lindberg leaves behind her son Steven Lindberg, her parents Robert and Dawn Lindberg, her sister Sara Lindberg and her grandmother Beulah Lindberg.

The funeral service will be held Monday at 2 p.m. at the Swedberg-Taylor Funeral Home in Siren. A wake will be available one hour prior. A luncheon will follow.