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Nevada County coroner: San Francisco man disappears while swimming in South Yuba River

Alan Riquelmy
ariquelmy@theunion.com

Nevada County authorities believe a San Francisco man, who disappeared over the weekend in the South Yuba River, has died.

The 37-year-old man, whose name hasn’t been released, disappeared around 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, after going over a waterfall on the South Yuba River, about a mile upstream of the Highway 49 bridge. Nevada County search and rescue volunteers couldn’t respond at the time, instead beginning their search after sunrise on 6 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 20, said Sgt. Mike Sullivan, county coroner.

“He went over a small waterfall and never resurfaced,” he added.



Thirty-two searchers and a dive team looked for the swimmer, finding one of his shoes down river. They cleared the river downstream of his disappearance, leading Sullivan to believe the swimmer was trapped underneath the waterfall, he said.

Sullivan said he’s started the process to have water agencies reduce the flow, which will enable a diver to search under the waterfall. However, it can take a day or two to have the request approved, and another eight to 10 hours before water flow is reduced.



“We’re hoping to have this completed by the end of the week,” Sullivan said.


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