A 17-year-old boy identified by family members as Gabriel Santiago died after going missing while rafting in the Stanislaus River at Caswell Memorial State Park in San Joaquin County, California. His body was recovered Sunday afternoon, concluding a search that began Saturday.
Emergency personnel were first alerted to a swimmer in distress on Saturday afternoon. Due to firefighters being engaged in a vegetation fire, the Manteca Fire Department initially responded. A multi-agency search was launched around 4 p.m. Saturday, with crews scouring the river and its banks until nightfall. Search operations resumed Sunday morning and continued into the afternoon before Santiago's body was recovered.
According to the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office, Santiago was rafting when he went underwater and did not resurface. The Sheriff’s Office, supported by its Boating Safety Unit, Unmanned Aircraft System drone team, and Ripon Fire personnel, is leading the investigation into the drowning.
Santiago's mother told KCRA that he was with friends at the time of the incident and described him as a loving child.