Young Journalist Dies in Horrific Accident at Folsom Lake

A dev­as­tat­ing tragedy has struck the Sacra­men­to news indus­try as a promis­ing jour­nal­ist lost her life in a freak acci­dent at Fol­som Lake.

Kathryn “Katie” Hoedt, a ris­ing star at KCRA 3 news and a recent NYU grad­u­ate, was hav­ing fun with friends at the lake when she fell from a dan­ger­ous rope swing into the rocky waters below.

The 23-year-old suf­fered severe injuries from the 30-foot fall and was air­lift­ed to a near­by hos­pi­tal, but sad­ly did not sur­vive. Katie was a beloved mem­ber of the KCRA morn­ing show team, where she brought her pas­sion and pos­i­tiv­i­ty to every sto­ry she pro­duced. Her col­leagues and view­ers are heart­bro­ken by the loss of such a tal­ent­ed and bright young woman who had so much to offer.

The rope swing that caused Katie’s fatal acci­dent was ille­gal and has been removed by park author­i­ties. How­ev­er, many are won­der­ing why the park did not do more to pre­vent such tragedies from hap­pen­ing, espe­cial­ly with the chang­ing water lev­els that cre­ate hid­den haz­ards. Katie’s death is a trag­ic reminder of how pre­cious life is and how quick­ly it can be tak­en away. Her fam­i­ly, friends, and fans are griev­ing the loss of her radi­ant spir­it and hop­ing for jus­tice. Katie’s lega­cy will live on in the count­less lives she touched with her warmth and brilliance.