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Swimmer
presumed dead
Posted:
Tuesday, Jul 19, 2005 - 08:30:23 am PDT
By CHERY SABOL
The
Daily Inter Lake
A search for a 21-year-old Kalispell man who apparently drowned
in the South Fork of the Flathead River has
been unsuccessful.
A search for a 21-year-old Kalispell man who apparently drowned
in the South Fork of the Flathead River has been unsuccessful.
Gabriel Brown was reported missing Sunday night by friends with
whom he had been fishing.
The fishermen
were at Devil's Elbow below Hungry Horse Dam when the man told
his friends he was jumping in the river for a swim, said
sheriff's deputy Tom Snyder, search and rescue coordinator for
Flathead County. He was last seen rounding the second point of
rocks on the river "and never came back," Snyder said.
His friends searched for him for about three hours before
calling for help at about 9 p.m. Sunday.
North Valley Search and Rescue put two boats in the water. They
were assisted by ALERT helicopter, which shined a spotlight on
the darkened river. Sheriff's deputy Jordan White used
night-vision goggles to try to locate the man, and search dogs
worked the west shore of the river, but to no avail.
Monday, the search resumed with four boats and ALERT helicopter
returning, along with three search dogs. Flathead Search and
Rescue, Flathead County Sheriff Jim Dupont, and divers all
assisted with the search.
"The water's moving at a pretty good clip," Snyder said, and
there is no indication of where Brown might be.
The west side of the river is rugged and hard to search, but "we
haven't found any indication that anybody made it to the
shoreline," he said.
Nonetheless, the search was expanded Monday in hopes that the
man might still be alive.
"We're hoping he got to the shore and he's injured or something"
and awaiting rescue, Snyder said.
Searchers were less optimistic about that outcome by Monday
evening after they had searched the banks of the river all the
way from Devil's Elbow to Presentine Bar near Costco.
They planned to search until about 9 p.m. and then return
Tuesday morning, Dupont said.
Hungry Horse dam lowered its water level by six inches Monday to
help in the search, Dupont said, but it will start generating
again today. The sheriff said the increased water pressure might
help push Brown's body loose if he is stuck in one of several
holes in the river.
The river is moving about 4 miles per hour, which is fast for
this time of year, he said.
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