Posted 7/17/2012 3:41 PM by MDGREGORY
This afternoon at approximately 1040 a.m., members of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Operations Team recovered the body of a missing 21-year-old male in the Spokane River.
The incident began on Monday evening; July 16th at approximately 6:40 p.m. when it was reported a male without a lifejacket fell off his tube into the Spokane River in the area north of the 16500 block of East Indiana. It was reported the male was having trouble
swimming to shore and went below the surface and was not seen again.
The male was not located last night and the search was called off around 9:30 p.m.
This morning at approximately 9:30 a.m., members of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Operations Team, the Spokane Valley Fire Department and Air 1 began searching the area again. Divers, kayaks and jet skis searched the river and shoreline with
the assistance of Air 1 for a little over an hour before the body was located near the center channel of the river.
The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office will release the name of the victim at a later time.
Please remember a lifejacket must be worn in moving water on most parts of the Spokane River, regardless of age, unless you are actively swimming. Even though it is hot outside, the temperature of the river today is about 70 degrees and the current in some
areas can be deceptive. This cold water and current can easily cause the best swimmers to have difficulty and wearing a lifejacket may make the difference.
Information about this Spokane Sheriff News story is also available at www.facebook.com/SpokaneCountySheriffsOffice