Body found in Folsom Lake identified as 22-year-old swept into American River last month
Coroner’s officials have confirmed that the body found Friday at Folsom Lake is that of a 22-year-old man who was swept into the American River more than two weeks earlier near the confluence in Placer County.
The victim has been identified as Victor Nguyen of Antelope, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said in a Monday social media post.
Deputies on April 29 were dispatched to the confluence of the Middle Fork and North Fork of the American River, near Auburn, where a group of friends reported one person in their group had been swept away in the water, the Sheriff’s Office said in earlier statements.
Nguyen’s body was recovered after being spotted near Rattlesnake Bar at Folsom Lake, authorities said, which is roughly 10 miles south of the confluence.
Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Angela Musallam said Saturday that the body may have been that of one of two swimmers who have gone missing since late April after being swept away in the American River, but his identity was not confirmed by coroner’s officials until Monday.
The other missing swimmer, a Bay Area man who disappeared the afternoon of May 14 after jumping into the North Fork of the American River by Yankee Jims Bridge near Foresthill, has not been found as of Monday.
Musallam said search efforts have been ongoing on a “limited but continuous” basis for both missing swimmers.
Northern California rivers are running cold and extremely fast for this time of year, due to record snowpack levels from winter’s storms. Rivers in the Sierra Nevada foothills will likely not be warm enough for safe recreation until at least late July or early August, according to public safety agencies and weather forecasters.
Public safety agencies in Placer County have launched a campaign called “Be River Wise,” warning that the rivers are especially dangerous this year, even as air temperatures have warmed into the 90s in Sacramento and surrounding areas in recent weeks.
“Please let these horrific incidents serve as an example of why we continue to warn the public to stay out of the river,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote Monday.
