The family of a woman whose body was found in an icy lake in Beverly, Massachusetts, on Christmas after falling in the day before while walking her dog is mourning her.
Owen Kasozi is believed to have fallen into the freezing Wenham Lake in the J.C. Philips Nature Preserve and was unable to get herself out, according to the Essex County District Attorney's Office and Beverly police. The dog was found on its own in Topsfield at about 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve, five hours after Kasozi was last seen.
Foul play isn't suspected, authorities have said. Investigators believe Kasozi was unable to get out of the water.
A vigil for the 30-year-old engineer who lived in Danvers, a graduate of Salem University and Charlestown High School, was planned for Thursday.
"As much as we’re going to miss her, I’m glad she had enough of this life. She did everything she wanted to do," her brother, Dan Kasozi, said.
Alex Kasozi, her older sister, wrote about Owen's death on her social media: "My beautiful sister is gone," she wrote, adding a series of emojis and continuing, "am in so much pain."
In an interview, she shared more about the last time they saw Kasozi, when she took her Australian shepherd mix, Boka, out for a walk.
"We thought she was coming back," Alex Kasozi said. "Now we have the memories."
The family has been struggling, finding unopened packages of clothes she ordered and Christmas gifts she wrapped. They have been asking for donations to help pay for her unexpected burial.
The area is a popular dog-walking spot, and on Thursday, both pawprints and tracks from shoes could be seen in the ice. One set of tracks went to a sign warning about being on the ice.
Authorities have been urging the public to stay off icy bodies of water this winter, and Ryan Laracy, a deputy chief at the Beverly Fire Department, said it would be "only seconds before you start losing strength in the cold."
