Body in Sacramento River was man who went missing from houseboat, Sutter deputies say

The Sutter County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the body of a 58-year-old man found in the Sacramento River on Saturday was a missing person last seen swimming from a houseboat.

In a news release, Sutter deputies said the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office retrieved the body of Ronald Milton Belke Jr. of Sacramento. KCRA 3 reported that a fisherman found the body just south of Interstate 5 near the Sacramento International Airport.

Sutter County boating units were deployed after Belke went missing Wednesday night. First responders were sent to the river less than a mile north of the airport after Belke was seen swimming toward shore from a disabled houseboat on the water.

Belke and another person had been in the recently purchased boat but were experiencing mechanical difficulties, according to earlier statements from the Sheriff’s Office. He tried to swim back to Simard’s Boat Dock to get help getting the boat back to shore.

The other person onboard saw him swim about three-quarters of the way back to the dock before turning back to address the boat’s mechanical problems. At the time, Belke didn’t appear to be in distress and he had not been drinking.

“Sheriff Barnes and the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office sends our condolences to Ronald’s family and friends during this tragic incident,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a prepared statement.