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Flathead River Drowning Victim Identified

By Beacon Staff

The Flathead County sheriff says a Pennsylvania man drowned while attempting to swim across the Flathead River over the weekend.

Sheriff Mike Meehan says 25-year-old Adam Podufal of Girard, Pa., dove in the river around 4 p.m. Saturday in an area called “Devil’s Elbow” just below the Hungry Horse Dam.

Meehan says Podufal swam across the river once, but when he turned to go back across, he went under and never resurfaced.

Divers recovered the body around 4:30 p.m., about a half-mile downstream from the entry point.

Meehan says the Devils Elbow is considered one of the most dangerous areas in the Flathead river.

He says, “The river is very deceiving, it’s flowing a lot faster than it looks and there are many different whirlpools and eddies that you can get caught in.”