MOXIE GORE (AP) – An Oakland man was apparently trying to save his female companion when he was swept to his death over one of Maine’s steepest waterfalls, authorities said Saturday.

The Maine Warden Service said Garth Coon, 39, whose name had been withheld until family members could be notified, was dead at the scene of the Friday afternoon accident at Moxie Falls, east of the Kennebec River in a thickly wooded area near The Forks.

Coon and his companion, Carol Gordon, 34, of Oakland, were swimming in Moxie Stream when Gordon apparently got caught in the current ten or 15 feet from the drop-off, Lt. Pat Dorian said.

“She realized she was in trouble and hollered to him,” Dorian said. “He attempted to save her from going over the edge.”

Witnesses at the scene said the two apparently fell onto a ledge three-quarters of the way down the falls, which drops 92 feet.

Gordon was flown by LifeFlight helicopter to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where she was being treated for multiple fractures.

About 50 rescuers from the warden service, local fire companies and rafting companies in the area helped with the rescue and recovery, which was made more difficult by the vertical cliffs and heavy foliage. Coon’s body was airlifted out by helicopter.