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Montana State Student Dies in Kayaking Accident

By Beacon Staff

BOZEMAN – Gallatin County officials say a 21-year-old Montana State University student has died in a kayaking accident on the Gallatin River.

Sheriff Brian Gootkin said Harold Vaughan of Madison County died Wednesday evening.

Gootkin says Vaughan’s kayaking partner called 911 at about 5:30 p.m. to report Vaughan was upside down in his kayak headed down river from the mouth of the Gallatin Canyon.

Search and rescue crews found Vaughan’s kayak wedged upside down in a log jam. Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. He was wearing a lift vest, but not a helmet.

Gootkin says the Gallatin River from the mouth of the canyon north is especially dangerous because of the number and size of log jams and hidden hazards.