Melissa Anne Lehew died attempting to help rescue Daniel E. Samis from drowning, Bel Air, Maryland, August 31, 2018. During heavy rain in a rural area, Samis, 67, was stranded in his car on a flooded section of road where it crossed a stream. Lehew, 34, was riding in a pickup truck driven by her boyfriend when they saw Samis’s car and stopped at the scene. The boyfriend backed his truck to the water’s edge about 100 feet from Samis’s car and got out. Intending to help Samis, the boyfriend waded toward his car with a rope that he had tied to the truck’s rear, and Lehew, holding onto the rope, also waded toward Samis’s car. Shortly, Lehew lost her footing and fell into the water. The boyfriend moved to Lehew at the road’s guide rail and helped her to her feet. They soon became separated, and Lehew was carried downstream by the current and away from the scene; the boyfriend safely exited the water. Samis’s car, with him inside, also was carried away downstream by the current. His body later was recovered from his car; he had drowned. Lehew’s body ultimately was recovered from a pond three days later. She also had drowned.
90183 – 10119
90183-10119