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E-mail StoryBody of drowning victim found in Kern River
| Friday, Jun 27 2008 9:01 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Jun 27 2008 9:24 PM
Divers recovered a body Friday in the Kern River which is believed to be a missing 24-year-old man who didn’t know how to swim.
Photos:
Young men watch from the bank of the Kern River between Hart Park and the soccer fields as Kern County Search and Rescue probe the river looking for a missing tuber on Thursday. The man's body was recovered on Friday.
Friends of the missing Agustin Vasquez Diaz first found his body at about 1:30 p.m. in the river near Hart Park and behind the soccer fields, according to Senior Deputy Mark King with the Kern County Sheriff’s Department.
The body was about 200 meters away from where Diaz went under the water Thursday afternoon. His inner tube popped.
The friends used rope and wore goggles as they searched the river on Friday. Diaz' body was trapped by branches and the friends called 911, King said.
“They were doing what they could do to find their friend,” he said.
Divers with the Kern County Sheriff's Search and Rescue team arrived and retrieved the body. A helicopter and a ground search team had combed the river earlier that day.
Above where Diaz' body was found, the river gushed smoothly.
“On top, it seems not as swift, underneath it’s a lot swifter,” King said. “There is a lot of water pressure and you can’t really fight a wall of water if you’re pinned against an object like a rock or branches.”
As the body was placed in a coroner’s vehicle, Diaz' friends identified his body and began crying. A chaplain put his arms around them.
“The safest way is to stay out of the river,” King said.
The victim marks the first drowning of the year, the Sheriff’s Department said.