Warwick

28-year-old woman dies after going for late night swim in Rhode Island

Family and friends identified the woman to NBC affiliate WJAR as 28-year-old Nicolette Biber, of East Greenwich.

WJAR

A woman who was pulled from the water Thursday night at Conimicut Point has died, police in Warwick, Rhode Island, said on Friday.

Family and friends identified the woman to NBC affiliate WJAR as 28-year-old Nicolette Biber, of East Greenwich.

According to authorities, she was out for a late night swim for her boyfriend Anthony Desimone when she vanished after going out on the north side of the sandbar around 10 p.m.

First responders say that her boyfriend told them she went into the water first and then was gone.

She was found by fire crews about 20 minutes later after she went missing near the lighthouse. Rescue crews performed CPR on her, WJAR reported, and she was rushed to Kent Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Biber's boyfriend told WJAR that Nicolette, who went by Nikki, loved hiking, fishing, and being outdoors. She was kind, caring, and tried to help anyone she could, he added.

People at Conimicut Point told WJAR they were shaken by the most recent drowning at the park.

According to WJAR, two years ago, a 10-year-old girl drowned at the beach, along with a 35-year-old man who tried to save her.

"When people go out there and when the tide comes up in particular the sandbar will get covered with water very quickly and there's a lot of lot of water moving through the area at that point, so the current can be strong and push even the strongest swimmer off the bar and into water where they are going to get in trouble. A lot sooner than they would expect," Bill Wilson, a battalion chief at the Warwick Fire Department, told WJAR.

The city has posted signs in the area to warn people about the dangers of the sandbar.

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