Search crews looking near CA-NV border for swimmer missing along I-80 exit
Update: Search-and-rescue divers found the body of 19-year-old Brian Marcellino Gallardo on Monday, authorities said. Read the story
Original story:
Authorities continued searching Sunday for a man who went missing after swimming in the Truckee River on Saturday near the California-Nevada state line.
The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office told KTVN in Reno, Nevada, that the 19-year-old man was with friends when he entered the water near the Floriston exit. Family members said the incident happened about 3 p.m. and that the man had been “shocked by the cold water and struggled.”
“The search has been ongoing throughout the weekend by ground and by air, but the missing man has not yet been located,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a Sunday evening update. “The search will continue Monday with K9 teams, drones, helicopters, swiftwater rescue teams, rescue swimmers and ground searchers on foot.”
Search and rescue crews began looking for him Saturday afternoon, deputies said. Neighboring agencies — including the Truckee Police and Fire Departments, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office and the California Highway Patrol — were involved in the search just miles from the Nevada state line along Interstate 80.
Authorities said the river’s water temperature was about 44 degrees, creating dangerous conditions for anyone entering the water.
In a social media post, a family member described the moments leading up to the incident, saying the group from Santa Rosa had been hiking near the river after traveling to Reno to see a friend when “they went on a hike on the trail off Exit 199 a when they got to an area that the water looked calm.”
The relative said that the man “appeared to have been shocked by the cold water and struggled. The other male friend jumped in to try and help” before the man was “carried away by the current.”
Amid warm temperatures in the Sierra and runoff from melting snowpack, officials urged the public to stay out of the fast-moving, cold water.
“While it may feel like summer, melting snow is causing rivers and streams to rise and flow rapidly,” Nevada County deputies said hours before the man went missing. “Water temperatures remain cold enough to cause immediate cold shock and hypothermia.”
This story was originally published March 22, 2026 at 6:38 PM with the headline "Search crews looking near CA-NV border for swimmer missing along I-80 exit."