Celebrity TV chef Naomi Pomeroy, age 49, dies in river accident days after making announcement on Instagram

Top Chef Masters star Naomi Pomeroy reportedly lost her life over the weekend following the tragic incident. The TV personality, who took part in the hit cooking competition, is said to have been inner tubing with her husband, Kyle Linden Webster, and an unnamed friend in Oregon, United States, when the fatal incident occurred.

Inner tubing, also known as bumper tubing, towed tubing, biscuiting, or kite tubing, is where an individual rides on top of an inner tube, either on water, snow, or through the air. The tubes themselves are also known as donuts or biscuits due to their shape.

It is understood that the chef was tied to her husband and friend while they were tubing when all three of them struck a tree in the water and Naomi was thrown out of the inner tube and got into difficulty underwater.

KEZI9 News reports that the TV personality was not wearing a lifejacket at the time of the accident. Multiple local news outlets report their tube flipped over in “murky, fast-moving” currents on the Willamette River. Her husband and friend are said to have survived the accident.

The Benton County Sheriff's Office in Oregon confirmed Pomeroy’s body was recovered from the water at around 8:25pm on Saturday (July 13). Authorities confirmed that a strong undercurrent had made it challenging to recover her body.

Pomeroy’s sudden and untimely death comes just over two weeks after she and fellow restaurateur Luke Dirks launched a series of dinners called Garden Party. She announced the news by posting a photo to her Instagram page showing guests gathered around the dining table at the secret garden in Portland, where she lived.

Many of the items on the menu came fresh from what Pomeroy had grown in her own garden. She wrote: “SEE YOU ALL AGAIN SO SOoooooon!! I can't wait to cook with you again!!!”

Fans have left many tributes on the post. One person wrote: “You did it. You became the human and the chef we all want to be, or at the very least, aspire to follow. You led with grace, determination, a subtle ferocity, empathy and love. Sleep with peace and know that we will carry your vision and enthusiasm on. It is the “Pomeroy Pledge”. We know you’re looking down with that unmistakable twinkle in your eye and warmth in your smile. We love you, Naomi. Forever.”

A second person wrote: “I am shocked, this shows drowning deaths early every summer can really happen to anyone. My brother almost drown in the river too. Life jackets save lives. You are gone way too soon.” A third said: “Impossible to understand this. You were a light, a legend, and an inspiration. rest in peace.”

Pomeroy was highly regarded chef and restaurateur in the United States who won many awards for her food. She gained even more public prominence when she appeared on the hit cooking competition Top Chef Masters in 2011. She also appeared as a TV chef on various other shows.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by her daughter, August, aged 23, her parents; her stepmother, and her two half brothers, Andrew and Colin Pomeroy.