River Claims Victims The summer of 2014 has seen multiple fatalities on the Arkansas River, including the death of a Vernal, Utah woman who disappeared after a raft she was a passenger on went over a spillway just north of Salida during an evening float trip on June 28. Amanda Taylor, 31, was found four days later by her brother just below the confluence of the South Arkansas and Arkansas rivers, where he clung to her body until emergency workers arrived. A kayaker died July 11 while paddling the Pine Creek Rapid north of Buena Vista. Johnathan Kennedy, 40, of ...