Body found at San Diego County waterfalls; search called off for missing swimmer
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department called off the search for a missing man Monday after a rescue team discovered a body at Three Sisters Falls.
The Sheriff’s Department did not release the name of the missing man and said in a news release that authorities were working to make a positive identification of the body.
Less than two weeks ago, a woman died at the same waterfalls.
In the latest incident, a 27-year-old man disappeared Friday while swimming with a companion at the middle pool of Three Sisters Falls.
The collection of waterfalls near the town of Julian require a challenging hike to reach. The Sheriff’s Department said the current was too dangerous for divers to search underwater until Monday.
California’s snowmelt is leading to flooding and erosions. The Central Valley and Yosemite are dangerously affected, but the water can benefit drought-battered farmers.
Authorities across California have been urging swimmers to be extra cautious at rivers and lakes this spring and summer. As snow melts from the heavy winter storms, there’s heightened risk of high water levels and strong currents.
“This fast-moving water can be dangerous to swim in, even for the most experienced swimmers,” the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services said in a news release this month.
According to a tally from the Bay Area News Group, at least 18 people have drowned or gone missing at rivers and tributaries across the state since mid-April.
That includes the 27-year-old man who went missing last week at Three Sisters, as well as an Orange County woman who died there a week earlier.
On June 8, Sarah Louise Crocker of Ladera Ranch and a teen girl who was a family friend were in the middle pool of the falls when the teen lost her footing. Crocker reached out to assist, and both fell over the edge of the waterfall to the bottom pool, officials said. Crocker died, and the 15-year-old girl was seriously injured.
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