‘Death investigation’ underway after police recover body found in the Sacramento River
Authorities on Tuesday recovered a body found in the Sacramento River near Robert T. Matsui Waterfront Park.
About 5 p.m., authorities initially received a report of a body trapped under a boat in the Sacramento River, said Capt. Justin Sylvia, a spokesman for the Sacramento Fire Department. He said a crew of officers from the Sacramento Police Department were on a boat in the river, found the body and pulled it from the water.
The body was found in the river near the 400 block of Jibboom Street, according to the Sacramento Police Department.
Police said this is “a death investigation,” and it was unclear whether the body found was that of a swimmer, a rafter or anyone else recreating in the river.
For the past few weeks, public safety officials in the Sacramento region and the Sierra Nevada foothills have warned residents that Northern California rivers are unsafe for recreation. Waterways are running cold and extremely fast for this time of year due to a record-setting Sierra snowpack.
On Monday afternoon, firefighters rescued a rafter in the Cosumnes River in Sacramento County. The male rafter, who was not wearing a life jacket and was rafting with friends, was swept downstream and became separated from his tire raft near Rancho Murieta, according to the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District.
In Placer County, coroner’s officials have confirmed that the body found Friday at Folsom Lake is that of a 22-year-old Sacramento County man who was swept into the American River more than two weeks earlier. Victor Nguyen of Antelope was with a group of friends on April 29, when he was swept away in the fast-moving water at the confluence of the Middle Fork and North Fork of the American River, near Auburn.
Another swimmer, a Bay Area man, remains missing after he disappeared May 14. Authorities said he jumped into the North Fork of the American River by Yankee Jims Bridge near Foresthill.
