EDMONDS — The body of an Edmonds woman who died after apparently going overboard on a ferry headed to Kingston was recovered from Puget Sound on Tuesday.

Paula Kay Keely, also known as Paula Sutton, 51, was reported missing about 6:30 p.m. Monday after ferry workers found her Ford Focus on the ferry Puyallup.

The Coast Guard and Washington State Ferries employees immediately began searching the boat but were unable to find the woman.

Keely’s body was discovered in Puget Sound about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday by a news helicopter, State Patrol spokesman Lance Ramsay said.

Investigators were still trying to determine how she ended up in the water, he said.

"It was a very nice evening, and many people were out on the deck, but nobody reported seeing anybody go overboard," Ramsay said.

Investigators will search Keely’s car and her home for anything that might help in the investigation, he said.

The ferry, which was carrying 265 passengers, "is exceedingly difficult to fall off of," ferry system spokeswoman Susan Harris-Huether said.

Public areas are protected by railings with metal lattices underneath, and unsafe areas on the vehicle deck are roped off, she said.

"We have small children that ride the ferry, so we’re very, very aware of safety," Harris-Huether said.

This is the first incident in a long time in which someone has gone overboard on a ferry near Snohomish County, Harris-Huether said.

Several people have jumped from ferries, she said, and at least four suspected suicides have occurred at Puget Sound ferry docks.

A Mountlake Terrace man died in May 2000 after his speeding pickup went off the Edmonds ferry dock.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office is scheduled to do an autopsy on Keely today, spokesman Leon Reichle said.

Reporter Katherine Schiffner: 425-339-3436 or schiffner@heraldnet.com.