Light snow to continue to fall, and to melt, in the Peoria area
What had been intermittent snow showers Friday settled into a more traditional pattern early Saturday.
Steady snowfall resulted in about three-10ths of an inch reported between midnight and about 9 a.m. Saturday at the Peoria international airport, according to Chris Geelhart, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Lincoln.
The same total was measured Friday in Peoria. Snow that day took the form of sporadic showers, almost like rain. Basically, it s about what we were expecting, Geelhart said.
Macomb reported the highest area snowfall total Friday, 1.3 inches.
“Biking, hiking anything outdoors was her passion,” her friend Breanna Moses said.
Gray especially enjoyed plying waterways with her 11-foot, pink kayak. She died alongside it.
Gray, 45, of Peoria, went missing Thursday while kayaking on the Illinois River. She was found dead Friday morning by the Peoria Fire Department dive team, south of Detweiller Park.
Friends recalled Gray as enthusiastic in any environment. Though perhaps most excited amid wilderness, she seemed upbeat everywhere, Moses said.
“She was never negative about anything,” Moses told the Journal Star on Saturday. “She was always positive, supportive and caring in any situation.”
Those qualities shined on the job. A registered nurse, Gray worked at Sharon Healthcare Pines, a residential facility specializing in traumatic brain injuries. Coworker Katie Wilson remembered Gray’s dedication.
Missing kayaker found dead
UPDATE (4 p.m.) The Peoria County coroner says 45-year-old Sarah Gray died of rapid hypothermia and drowned.
Gray, an experienced kayaker, according to Coroner Jamie Harwood, set off on the Illinois River at about 3 p.m. on Thursday to travel down to the Peoria RiverPlex.
The Peoria County Sheriff s Office said it responded to the missing person report at around 7:30 p.m. at the 9200 block of Cross Street.
A search was conducted Thursday, with the Peoria Fire Department entering the river. The OSF LifeFlight helicopter was also launched to assist, but the search was unsuccessful.
Midwest Communications/Shutterstock
CHILLICOTHE, Ill. Sarah Gray, a 45-year-old woman who went missing Thursday evening after kayaking in the Illinois River, has been found dead, according to Illinois Conservation Police.
Gray’s husband said she went kayaking up the river towards the RiverPlex but decided to turn around due to ice in the river. He said she never returned after turning around.
Gray was wearing a yellow life jacket, just as she was when she went missing, when she was found.
The Peoria County Sheriff’s Office deployed two drones and were also assisted by Life Flight and Peoria Fire Department when they received the report Gray was missing.