Pelham woman drowns in Orange Beach, along with young girl

Published 3:38 pm Saturday, July 3, 2010

A Pelham woman and a 2-year-old girl drowned in Orange Beach, Ala., the evening of July 2, according to the Orange Beach Police Department.

Kembra Gordon, 47, of Pelham was pronounced dead at the scene, while the 2-year-old girl, who was not related to Gordon, was flown by Life Flight helicopter to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, Fla.

Baldwin County Deputy Coroner Brian Pierce said the girl was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The drownings occurred in the Gulf of Mexico close to Alabama 180, Pierce said.

Police responded to the 26000 block of Perdido Beach Boulevard at about 5 p.m. after someone called to report a possible drowning.

When emergency personnel arrived at the scene, they discovered the two victims out of the water and unresponsive.

According to witnesses at the scene, the two victims were part of a group vacationing from the Birmingham area, and had taken a walk on the beach away from their group shortly before the drowning.

Members of the vacation group said they last saw the victims at about 3:30 p.m. July 2, and thought the two had returned to the group’s condominium or swimming pool.

Beach visitors told police they were pulling Gordon from the ocean when someone noticed the 2-year-old still in the water.

A male beach visitor then entered the ocean, located the juvenile victim and returned her to the shore.

Following the incident, the male beach visitor was transported to South Baldwin Regional Medical Center, treated for a back injury and released.