BEAVER CREEK, Colo.—The search for a 56-year-old Nebraska woman who fell into Beaver Creek while horseback riding has turned into a recovery mission, authorities said Sunday.
Mary Brake of Lincoln fell into the swift-moving creek Friday evening after her horse lost its footing and was washed downstream.
The horse was later found with minor injuries, but there was no sign that Brake made it out of the water, Eagle County sheriff’s spokeswoman Shannon Cordingly said. After more than 24 hours in the water, rescuers assume she is no longer alive.
Brake’s family says Brake, her husband and 9-year-old daughter had been riding to an upscale mountain restaurant that’s only accessible by horseback, horse-drawn wagons or wagons pulled by tractors.
Like most streams in Colorado now, the Beaver Creek is swollen with water because of runoff from melting snow.
Cordingly said the high, fast-moving water has kept searchers from checking parts of the creek for Brake. Efforts to find her body were to resume Monday morning.
The Brake family thanked everyone for their prayers and support in a statement issued to the media Sunday. The family also talked about Mary Brake.
“Mary was an amazing woman, unlike anyone else I’ve ever known. She was successful at everything she did—in her business and at home,” the family said in the statement.
Brake was a prominent Lincoln Realtor who had been helping people buy and sell homes since 1984. Her husband Gene Brake is CEO of HomeServices of Nebraska, which is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Mike Elgert, managing broker for Home Real Estate, said Gene Brake told him Mary Brake fell when she was crossing the creek. Elgert told the Lincoln Journal-Star that the accident happened so quickly that no one had a chance to try and grab Mary Brake before she disappeared downstream.
“Obviously, they’re devastated,” Elgert said after speaking with Gene Brake Saturday.
Brake also had two sons and was the oldest of eight children, her family said.
