Kathryn ‘Katie’ Hoedt KCRA reporter falls 30 ft to her death in freak accident after attempting to ride rope swing at Folsom Lake. Mother calls out park officials for not having warnings.
An avoidable death? A California TV news producer was killed when she attempted to ride a rope swing only to fall 30 feet to her death along the rocky shores of Folsom Lake, state parks officials said.
Kathryn ‘Katie’ Hoedt, 23, a rising journalist at KCRA was on an outing with friends Saturday, Aug. 12, when she attempted to ride the swing near Rattlesnake Bar, where the North Fork American River enters the lake.
She received CPR from an off-duty doctor at a nearby boat ramp and then was taken to a Roseville hospital, where she died.
Rising star
Hoedt according to her Linkldn profile had worked since October as a news producer for Sacramento TV station KCRA. Previously, she worked for KTXL, also in Sacramento, and for student publications at San Jose State University and then New York University. She grew up in the Sacramento area and attended Antelope High School.
Hoedt graduated from San Jose State University in 2021 before she earned her master’s degree from New York University in 2022.
A parks official told the Sacramento Bee that rope swings aren’t permitted at Folsom Lake and that rangers cut them down when they see them.
‘You don’t know who put the rope swing up. You don’t know how strong that is. You don’t know the tree, the branch. Anything can give out and it’s extremely dangerous,’ Barry Smith, chief ranger of the Gold Fields District of California State Parks, told KCRA.
Parent blames park rangers. Common sense?
Her parents told KCRA that they think park employees should make a greater effort to remove the swings and should also post signs warning of the danger.
‘Had Katie seen information like that or signs or been educated, she would have never gotten on that rope swing,’ said her mother, Beth Hoedt.
‘I can’t believe it’s real, you know, she was such a bright light,’ Beth said. ‘Today, I tried to get some work done, and it was really, really hard because I knew Katie’s never going to be calling me again, and it’s going to be just something that I’m never going to get used to.’
Folsom Lake’s changing water levels have been made known to residents over the years, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Parks officials said the lake has fallen 15 feet since May — which exposes more shoreline and increases the distance one can fall from a rope swing.
