Drowning claims life of Libby woman

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is

investigating the drowning death of a 63-year-old Libby woman who

was found last Friday night bent over a bathtub with her face

submerged in water.

Claudia Brazington, 63, was pronounced

dead at the scene of her 70-year-old boyfriend’s house on Woodway

Avenue in Libby, according to Sheriff Roby Bowe. When found, she

had been deceased for only a short time, Bowe said.

Her boyfriend called 911 at 9:41 p.m.

Friday, stating that he had just gotten home and found a woman in

his bathtub who wasn’t breathing. She was fully clothed and the

water was running when she was discovered, Bowe said.

The bathtub was a model in which the

water is turned on by two knobs. The tub was draining water so it

hadn’t yet run over when the woman was found.

Bowe speculates that the man didn’t

recognize Brazington right away because of the situation – the

condition he found her in and the fact that he hadn’t expected her

to be at his home.

The circumstances surrounding her death

are odd, Det. Capt. Jim Sweet said, which is why he is performing

an investigation.

An autopsy performed Monday ruled

drowning as the cause of death, Bowe said. Detectives haven’t yet

determined whether the death was an accident or if foul play was

involved. Alcohol was a factor and the woman had medical issues,

but the sheriff’s office is waiting for results from the state

crime lab to determine if, and to what degree, those two issues

played in her death.