Crime & Safety

Malden Native, 26, Drowns Whitewater Rafting in Colorado

Rebecca Knight died Wednesday after her raft overturned in the Poudre River.

A 26-year-old Malden native drowned Wednesday when she was whitewater rafting in the Poudre River, northwest of Fort Collins, Colorado, and her raft overturned, according to the Coloradoan.

Rebecca Knight was raised in Malden and a 2005 Malden High graduate, according to her obituary. An outdoor enthusiast who enjoyed hiking, biking and camping, Knight had recently moved to Fort Collins where she was a sales manager for REI.

Knight was wearing a life jacket and helmet during the incident, the Coloradoan reports. She was on a private raft with three others, who survived, and she was pulled from the water by emergency personnel Wednesday afternoon about 35 minutes after the initial 911 call came in.

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She was then airlifted to Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, where she was pronounced dead, according to the Coloradoan.

Knight earned a bachelor’s degree in business at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania.

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Along with her love for the outdoors, Knight was a strong advocate for the environment, according to her obituary. She made sure the food she ate and the clothes she wore came from environmentally sound and sustainable sources. She also loved animals and had adopted stray dogs over the years.

She is survived by her parents Owen S. and Elizabeth J. (Chuha) Knight, her brother Christopher S. Knight of San Francisco, her sisters Jennifer R. Knight of Malden, Stephanie D. Burrell of Lunenberg and Christine M. Knight of Malden and her grandparents Phyllis Knight of Malden and Steven and Joan Chuha of Stoneham, as well as many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her grandfather Irving S. Knight.

Knight’s funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, June 12, at Grace Chapel, 59 Worthen Road, Lexington. Committal services will be private.

Visiting hours will be held at the Weir-MacCuish Golden Rule Funeral Home, 144 Salem St., Malden, from 4-8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10, and Wednesday, June 11.

In lieu of flowers, family and friends of Knight’s are asked to make a donation to their local animal shelter.

Coloradoan: Fort Collins rafter who died Wednesday identified


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