BY JULIE IRWIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Workers inspecting the first homes to be free of flood waters in Falmouth on Tuesday found the city's first casualty of the Licking River.

An elderly woman was found dead in her home, apparently unable to flee the quickly rising waters.

Officials declined Tuesday night to release the woman's name until they notified family - a tough task with 2,000 of the city's 2,400 residents scattered in shelters.

The body of another Kentuckian also was found Tuesday.

Stewart Buser, 24, of Mason County headed out with friends early Sunday to look at the Licking River.

But their lark along the north fork in Mason County turned deadly when waters engulfed Mr. Buser's pickup. His body turned up early Tuesday near Germantown as the Licking's waters began to recede.

It was found 60 feet or so from where the river claimed his truck. His three friends escaped through a sliding window in the cab.

''He had a lot of good friends and he never got into any trouble,'' Pat Buser said of her son, a 1990 graduate of Bracken County High School.

In addition to his parents, Mr. Buser is survived by his wife, Heather, and sister, Monica Ellett. Mr. Buser was a truck driver for KOI Auto Parts.

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