Powys woman, 39, drowns in US pier tragedy
A woman from Powys has drowned after a vehicle she was travelling in went off a pier in America, authorities have confirmed. Louise Owen, 39, is originally from Llanbrynmair.
She was found in a submerged car with two friends at a shipyard in Rhode Island on Friday.
Her body was found in the car which was submerged in about four feet of water with those of friends Jennifer Way, of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, and Femmetje Staring, from the Netherlands, both also 39, at the Newport Harbour pier.
Police believe the women missed a turn in heavy fog and have ruled out foul play.
The women worked in the yachting industry. Before her move to America, Ms Owen had worked for Wales Young Farmers' Club for about four years. She had been working on the luxury super-yacht Hyperion at the time of her death.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We are looking into reports of the death of a British national on Rhode Island on October 5 and we stand ready to provide consular assistance to the next of kin."
Post-mortems carried out in America have confirmed all three of the women drowned. Peter Wilson, co-owner of Marine Construction
Management in Newport, told the Provincial Journal that messages of condolences about the tragedy had been coming in from across the world.
He said: "All three women were highly respected in their fields and enormously well-liked. We will miss them all terribly."
