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TV chef dies at 49 in strange accident
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TV chef dies at 49 in strange accident

TV chef Naomi Pomeroy has tragically passed away after a horrific tubing accident on Oregon’s notoriously dangerous Willamette River. The 49-year-old former Top Chef Masters contestant was enjoying a night on the river with her husband and a friend when tragedy struck.

All three were tied together while tubing and hit a tree in the water, knocking Pomeroy underwater. Her husband, Kyle Linden Webster, and their friend managed to surface, but Pomeroy was nowhere to be found.




(Image: Getty Images)

The Benton County Sheriff’s Office later confirmed that her body was pulled from the water near Corvallis around 8:25 p.m. Saturday. Authorities said a strong undertow made it difficult for officers to immediately locate her body.

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Pomeroy was not wearing a life jacket at the time of the accident, KEZI9 News reported. This tragic incident comes just weeks after another fatal tubing accident occurred on the same stretch of the Willamette River.

Kaileigh Seidel, 24, lost her life on June 22 when the driver of the boat she was in turned too fast, causing her to collide with another vessel. Millie Lovea, a friend who witnessed the accident, blamed the driver for speeding and ignoring Seidel’s pleas to slow down.

Pomeroy is remembered by those close to her as a pioneer in Portland’s food scene. Gary Okazaki, a fan of Pomeroy’s community restaurant Beast, where she performed live magic tricks in the open kitchen, described her as “a rock star chef.”

“When they write the history of Portland’s culinary scene, she’ll have her own chapter,” he told KOIN6. “It was her personality, Naomi’s cult of personality. Just the magnetism.