WEST CHARLESTON — A 39-year-old Troy woman who had been missing since late last week was found dead Tuesday in the Clyde River, and investigators believe her death was the result of an accidental drowning, Vermont State Police said.
Troopers conducting follow-up investigation into the disappearance of Nicole Richardson were dispatched Tuesday evening, June 30, to a report of a woman in distress in the river near Vermont Route 105 in the village of West Charleston, police said.
A short time later, a bystander and a Vermont game warden located the woman a short distance downriver. She was unresponsive when she was brought to shore and was identified as Richardson. She was taken by ambulance to North Country Hospital in Newport, where she was pronounced dead.
Police said the death is not considered suspicious. Independent witness statements indicate Richardson voluntarily went into the river and was quickly overpowered by the swift current, according to state police.
Her body will be brought to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of her death.
Richardson was reported missing to the state police Derby barracks at about 1:12 p.m. Monday, June 29. She had last been seen about 8 p.m. Friday, June 26, at a residence on Pepin Road in Brownington.
She was expected to travel from Pepin Road, through Orleans, to Loop Road in Troy, but did not arrive and had not been in contact with her family, police said.
