[StBernard] Woman drowns near memorial

[Westley Annis]

Woman drowns near memorial
Friday, September 12, 2008St. Bernard bureau
A 38-year-old Poydras woman drowned after she apparently fell into the
Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet shipping channel near Shell Beach, according
to autopsy results released Thursday. 

Sarina M. LeBouef's body was discovered by utility workers Wednesday morning
near the monument naming St. Bernard Parish residents who died during
Hurricane Katrina, St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stephens said. 

He said it appears LeBouef had been sitting at the water's edge when she
slipped in. Her purse and cell phone were found on shore, and her vehicle
was parked nearby, Stephens said. 

An autopsy revealed no signs of foul play, and the death was ruled
accidental, the sheriff said. 

The granite monument sits near a 13-foot-tall crucifix pounded into the
shallows of the shipping channel, which many St. Bernard residents blame for
causing Katrina's catastrophic flooding.