Crime & Safety

UPDATED: Arlington Woman Drowns in Wellfleet

Barbara Benes, 82, drowned Thursday evening while apparently swimming at Indian Neck Beach in Wellfleet, Cape Cod, according to police.

Barbara Benes, an 82-year-old Arlington woman, at Indian Neck Beach in Wellfleet, Cape Cod, according to police.

Emergency personnel responded to the beach after receiving several 911 calls at about 7:08 p.m. for a woman floating face down in the water. Once on scene, police and fire crews pulled an unresponsive Benes from the water and administered CPR. She was then transported to Cape Cod Hospital, which is about 30 miles away in Barnstable, where she was pronounced dead.

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Benes was found just off shore. Emergency personnel were able to walk out to her to pull her in, according to a Wellfleet Police dispatcher Friday afternoon.

Benes’ death does not appear to be suspicious, the dispatcher said. Police believe she was swimming at the time of the incident, as she was wearing swimming attire; however, an autopsy is being conducted by the chief medical examiner.

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Indian Neck Beach

Indian Neck Beach (the neck that juts up from the bottom of the attached photo) is relatively calm, as it’s on the harbor side of Wellfleet and, therefore, protected, the dispatcher said. It’s a public beach, and it tends to be fairly popular, although less so during weekday evenings, she said. She did not know if Benes was found on the east or west side of the neck. It was hot and sunny in Wellfleet Thursday evening.

At the time of the incident, the tide was going out, as high tide was at about 2 p.m. that afternoon, low tide at about 8:10 p.m. that night.

Police believe that Benes was visiting Wellfleet.


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