KCRA producer, 23, dies in accident at Calif. lake

Members of the California media are mourning the loss of 23-year-old Kathryn Hoedt, a member of KCRA 3’s morning news team. 

Hoedt died in an accident on Saturday afternoon at Folsom Lake, a state park near Sacramento, park officials confirmed with SFGATE. State park rangers received a report of a woman who fell about 30 feet from a rope swing just north of Rattlesnake Bar, according to Jorge Moreno, a public information officer for California State Parks. 

After falling, Hoedt landed on the shoreline, and was taken to a boat ramp by her friends. An off-duty doctor in the area performed CPR and assisted the state park rangers, Moreno said. 

She was pronounced dead after she was transported by Placer County Fire to Sutter Roseville Medical Center, Moreno said. 

Hoedt, who went by the nickname “Katie,” produced the 8 a.m. daily newscast at KCRA 3, the outlet said on Monday. Hoedt was described as “vibrant” and one of the “nicest people” by her colleagues.

“Our team is heartbroken about the loss of Katie Hoedt. She had a vibrant personality, she lit up the newsroom with her enthusiasm and her laughter was contagious,” KCRA 3 news director Derek Schnell wrote in an email to SFGATE. “She was also proud to be a journalist and she was deeply committed to serving our community.”

Hoedt attended college at San Jose State University in the Bay Area, university employees told SFGATE. Hoedt graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and worked on at least 17 issues of student-run publications, including The Spear and The Spartan Daily, Mike Corpos, production chief of the Spartan Daily, told SFGATE.

The accomplished young journalist also attended New York University, where she earned her master’s degree at 21 years old.

Professors and leaders of the SJSU journalism department described her as a dedicated journalist.

“I will never forget her. She was a first-time freshman in my MCOM-72 class Fall 2018 and came up after class to ask if there was any opportunity to work on a student publication,” Dona Nichols, SJSU professor and advisor to the journalism department, wrote in an email to SFGATE. “She then showed samples of her own publication she had been publishing online.”

Nichols said Hoedt’s death is “a great loss to the School of Journalism and to the [news] industry as well.”