Oregonian here. The Oregon coast is grey, rocky and violent. When we go to the beach I'm always watching the ocean. You're never supposed to turn your back on the waves. There are things called SNEAKER WAVES that can suddenly overwhelm anything on the shore. That's what got her. You also have to watch out for floating logs and driftwood that lurks in the waves and can SMACK into you. There are signs everywhere that warn you not to climb on the logs on the beach because those sneaker waves can lift those logs, whip them out from under you and crush you. The ocean is not to be taken lightly. I really don't like being on the beach, or even a boat. Winter is not a great time to be beach-going. *shudder*
Perhaps she staged her own death because he was overcontrolling and she'll start a new lovely life and fall in love with the neighbour and then when she comes home all her towels will be neatly rearranged again.
Or have I watched Sleeping with the Enemy too much?
How often do people get swept out to sea while walking on the beach? I know it happens to people while they are swimming -- rip tides and whatnot -- but walking on the damn shore? And I'm sorry, but a 3-foot wave is not exactly a tsunami.
I think it sounds fishy. Then again, I've never been to the Pacific Ocean -- maybe the Atlantic is just way wimpier? I dunno.
@Kivrin: seriously, yes, the Pacific is much rougher. If they were out on the rock and a sneaker wave came up, she could easily lose her footing and get swept away.
It's nice that he wanted to propose in such a lovely setting. But oy, you have to be smart about these things. It's a tragedy, one more than we need at this time of year.
@jeepgirl: It's absolutely happened before with people being swept out to sea by waves. It's usually at some beautiful vista that attracts people. But... It still sounds fishy to me. And horribly sad.
@femaledwightschrute: @Louiso: Many of the super rocky beaches in Oregon can be tricky, as the waves can get huge and Proposal Rock is not really connected to a sandy beach. You have to walk out there, which isn't hard, per se, but you're sorta isolated from land. If a huge wave did come up, you could be screwed.
I was almost swept away as a kid with my uncle. (he still lives in OR) We were fishing and I dove in for a little swim. I couldn't get back & my uncle almost drowned trying to get me. The waves in the Pacific Northwest can be intense.
Oh this is an... even odder story. He is 44 or 45, she was 22, and had arrived only three days earlier on a fiancee visa from the Phillippines. They met on the internet in 2005, he went to the Phillippines for 3 weeks in January.
@PilgrimSoul: That sounds like my coworker from the Ukraine who has a mail order bride from Russia. I'm just going to hope myself into thinking these two were happy together and she wasn't miserable to begin with when the wave swept her away. Not to say May-December happiness can't be real but this is just creepy.
@PilgrimSoul: I have a good friend who met his Phillipino wife the exact same way, slightly smaller age difference, and they have been happily married for years. So, you never know.
@PilgrimSoul: Whaaa? Isn't that how everybody dates?
I'm preparing my trip to Nigeria to meet my prince (he's a prince! There's only one of those in Nigeria) after meeting him online in 2006. He's 72, but only in dog years he tells me.
@BettyCrockerPunkRocker: My Oregonian uncle (mentioned elsewhere in this thread) met my aunt the same way & they have been married for over 20 years. The age difference is smaller, but they are a great couple, my cousin is AWESOME & I love that family.
(which isn't to say this arrangement may have been awful, but don't just simply judge the process.)
I know I read too many thrillers (not to mention watched to many episodes of "The First 58" and "American Justice" but I now suspect that he drowned her. Rogue wave, my Aunt Sally.
Which is a terrible thing to think, as this is likely a very sad accident, but that's where my brain went.
I noticed that too. In my first marriage, I was 21 and the guy was 42. He was also very abusive. So that did prick up my ears a little. Just because I'm sensitive to that.
Not that it matters, but my first thought was, if this was a movie, it was all a set-up, and there was no big wave or proposal.
But I have an overactive imagination, based on way too many Agatha Christie books. I see plots in everything.
Since it isn't a movie or a book, it's obviously really tragic. I feel bad for him, thinking that he's doing something amazing and romantic, and then the worst possible thing happens. I don't know how you would cope with that.
@tailfeather: New (Friday optimist's) version: this was her plan to get to the US and manage to escape the (potentially nefarious) clutches of her husband-to-be.
@CissyPants: Yeah, the police say they do not suspect foul play and given the shady background I assume they have some basis for not doing so, but it does take some of the romance out of the story for me.
But if you want to imagine a happy ending, think instead that Zeus saw the fair maiden on the beach and entranced by her beauty ordered Posideon to create a wave to steal her away to a beach in Greece. There he calls upon Aphrodite to leave an apple that the girl eats immediately from hunger causing her to fall in love with the first man she sees, which is of course, Zeus in disguise. Now she lives in a Mediterranean villa with her "traveling salesman husband" about to give birth to child who will become a hero of legend.
@tailfeather: You and I cannot be the only people who thought that - I'm just ashamed that it was my very first thought even before I got this far in the quotes. I was feeling really bad about my cynical self, so thanks.
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Every year people die in those waves.
I don't know the numbers but there is a story at least once a month.
12/05/08
Oregonian here. The Oregon coast is grey, rocky and violent. When we go to the beach I'm always watching the ocean. You're never supposed to turn your back on the waves. There are things called SNEAKER WAVES that can suddenly overwhelm anything on the shore. That's what got her. You also have to watch out for floating logs and driftwood that lurks in the waves and can SMACK into you. There are signs everywhere that warn you not to climb on the logs on the beach because those sneaker waves can lift those logs, whip them out from under you and crush you. The ocean is not to be taken lightly. I really don't like being on the beach, or even a boat. Winter is not a great time to be beach-going. *shudder*
12/05/08
Being public doesn't mean it's a free-for-all.
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Or have I watched Sleeping with the Enemy too much?
Seriously though, very sad for her.
12/05/08
I think it sounds fishy. Then again, I've never been to the Pacific Ocean -- maybe the Atlantic is just way wimpier? I dunno.
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They also have a STRONG undertow so even a larger, stronger person could get pulled under and dragged out.
Great place to surf though, if you're a strong swimmer - I am not. I look for shells.
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By that I mean the sweeping out to sea part, not the proposal part.
Maybe I am being too pessimistic on Friday morning, maybe I haven't had enough coffee yet, but something sounds a little "off" to me.
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(optimism cap foolishly in place....)
12/05/08
I dunno. It's beautifully poetic. At least they were together. I'm a sicko, I guess.
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I was almost swept away as a kid with my uncle. (he still lives in OR) We were fishing and I dove in for a little swim. I couldn't get back & my uncle almost drowned trying to get me. The waves in the Pacific Northwest can be intense.
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hehe, thanks for the laugh and then the spontaneous barf into my work recycling bin.
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I'm preparing my trip to Nigeria to meet my prince (he's a prince! There's only one of those in Nigeria) after meeting him online in 2006. He's 72, but only in dog years he tells me.
12/05/08
(which isn't to say this arrangement may have been awful, but don't just simply judge the process.)
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This shouldn't be relevant, but... I don't like it.
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I know I read too many thrillers (not to mention watched to many episodes of "The First 58" and "American Justice" but I now suspect that he drowned her. Rogue wave, my Aunt Sally.
Which is a terrible thing to think, as this is likely a very sad accident, but that's where my brain went.
12/05/08
Poor woman.
12/05/08
Not that it matters, but my first thought was, if this was a movie, it was all a set-up, and there was no big wave or proposal.
But I have an overactive imagination, based on way too many Agatha Christie books. I see plots in everything.
Since it isn't a movie or a book, it's obviously really tragic. I feel bad for him, thinking that he's doing something amazing and romantic, and then the worst possible thing happens. I don't know how you would cope with that.
12/05/08
Very upsetting....I wonder if the unbelievable could be the truth.
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This is WEIRD....poor woman.
@tailfeather: Something isn't setting right with me.
12/05/08
She was, nonetheless, very pretty:
12/05/08
But if you want to imagine a happy ending, think instead that Zeus saw the fair maiden on the beach and entranced by her beauty ordered Posideon to create a wave to steal her away to a beach in Greece. There he calls upon Aphrodite to leave an apple that the girl eats immediately from hunger causing her to fall in love with the first man she sees, which is of course, Zeus in disguise. Now she lives in a Mediterranean villa with her "traveling salesman husband" about to give birth to child who will become a hero of legend.
12/05/08
I'm relieved I'm not the only one with a suspicious mind.
12/05/08
[www.oregonlive.com]
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@Macloserboy: Sounds like heaven!
12/05/08
Seriously, that's how I expected the story to end so I guess it could be worse.
12/05/08
[www.kval.com]
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