Husband says Los Lunas woman drowned after falling into Pecos
Apr. 29—A Los Lunas woman's drowning Sunday in the Pecos River was a tragic accident during a weekend visit to the mountains, her husband said.
Sherry Lee Sullivan, 74, fell into the river Sunday afternoon while the couple were visiting friends across the river from a cabin they own in Hidden Valley, north of Pecos off N.M. 63, Bruce Sullivan said.
She had spilled something on her hands and went to wash them off in the water, he said. She then fell into the river, which he described as "treacherous" and flowing dangerously fast due to spring mountain runoff.
New Mexico State Police said Sherry Lee Sullivan's body was found Sunday near Monastery Lake, which sits several thousand feet downstream from where her husband said she had fallen in.
State police were dispatched to the area shortly before 4 p.m., agency spokesman Wilson Silver said. The drowning remains under investigation.
Although the Pecos River is relatively shallow in the area where the incident occurred, those who know it well said it is capable of presenting danger.
The Pecos River was just days past its annual peak height and flow Sunday, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey. In the area where the incident occurred, it was almost 4 feet deep and running at 321 cubic feet per second, or about 127% of its normal flow.
Jarrett Sasser, who lives on the Pecos River and has been a guide on the river for more than 30 years, said he had taken people fishing in the area Sunday, when the temperature of the water was between 40 and 44 degrees.
"For even a really healthy person, being immersed in that cold water, you could lose your motor skills pretty quickly," Sasser said. He noted he always encourages people to exercise extra care and caution around the river.
Noah Parker, another experienced river guide, said seeing a drowning in the Pecos River is "an anomaly," but "there are spots where the water cannot flow outward so it just rips."
"If you fall in, and you're not a really good swimmer or know the river well, you could be in a world of trouble," he said.
Bruce Sullivan said he had met his wife Sunday at their cabin off Hidden Valley Lane. She had driven there a day earlier.
"She'd been there all day planting," he said in an interview Monday. "I went up yesterday morning to surprise her, and she was quite surprised and happy to see me."
The couple owned and operated Ma & Pa RV, a recreational vehicle dealership in Albuquerque. They had been together for 21 years, he said, but had just married in August.
Working in her garden was Sherry Lee Sullivan's true passion — something she would do "sun up to sun down," her husband said. She spent many of her last hours working the earth around the couple's cabin.
Sherry Lee Sullivan left behind one daughter, her husband said, and three dogs that "she loved so much."
"She loved everyone: children, grandchildren and many, many friends," he said.
