The family of a teenage girl drowned in the Snoqualmie River Wednesday afternoon released a statement Thursday.
They describe 17-year-old Samantha W. Spigel as a gifted student, with career plans to earn a law degree, to help children in crisis.
The King County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that dive and rescue crews recovered her body in about twenty feet of water — with swift current, Wednesday afternoon, in remote area of the Snoqualmie River’s North Fork. Spigel was swimming with two friends in a rocky area, near a small waterfall, when she disappeared.
Read the family’s statement in full below:
"Samantha W. Spigel of Issaquah was a 17-year-old gifted student, loyal friend, and faithful Sunday school teacher.
She was a determined, exuberant young woman. She had very big dreams, aspiring to earn a law degree to work as an advocate for children.
On Wednesday afternoon, Samantha drowned while swimming with friends in a remote area with a small waterfall — in the North Fork of the Snoqualmie River. The current there can be swift, and what happened was a tragic accident.
Samantha was in the Running Start program at Bellevue College, while going into her Senior year at Skyline High School. She also faithfully volunteered as a children’s Sunday school teacher at her family’s Bellevue Temple — while also working part-time as a Starbucks barista.
Samantha’s family and many friends are heartbroken, and they request privacy at this time while they mourn her loss."
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