HUNTSVILLE (ABC 4 News) - The 49-year-old Ogden woman who died after a boat hit her on Pineview Reservoir Sunday night has been identified.
Weber County Sheriffs office tells ABC4 that Esther Fujimoto was swimming in the Spring Creek Cove area with her sister at 8 p.m. when she was struck and killed by a boat.
"She's somebody that a lot of people really loved and cared about," said Brooke Gaynes, a co-worker of Fujimoto up at the University of Utah.
According Lt. Mark Lowther of the Weber county Sheriffs office, there are no witnesses of the accident. However, there was a man nearby who heard Fujimoto screaming for help. He then got into his row boat and pulled Fujimoto out of the water. A patrol boat in the area responded to the man's 911 call but Fujimoto later died while she was being taken to shore for medical help.
Neighbors in the area and Fujimoto's family did not want to talk on Monday. But her co-workers shared their thoughts about the kind of person Fujimoto was.
"She taught me a lot of things in science and also just about life," Gaynes said.
The accident happened about 300 feet off shore, and while Fujimoto and the boat that struck her were both entitled to be in the area, one rule was broken.
"Unless they're going 5 MPH or less we shouldn't see watercraft or jet skis come within 150 feet of another boat or person," Lt. Lowther said.
Friends of the breast cancer survivor say Fujimoto has had close calls before.
"Some days she would come in and talk about taking a close call or that she was worried about boats not seeing her," said Gaynes.
Fujimoto loved to swim. She went swimming in the Pineview Reservoir 100 times last summer.
Investigators do not know what boat to look for since there were no witnesses around. That's why they need your help. Anyone with information about this incident was asked to call the Weber County Sheriffs office at 801-778-6600.
