According to authorities, the bodies of three men who went missing after plunging over a waterfall in Northern California have reportedly been found.
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office tweeted on social media on Sunday to express their deepest sympathies to their families, friends, and everyone else impacted by this terrible tragedy.
Two of the guys, identified by the sheriff’s office as Matthew Schoenecker, 50, and Valentino Creus, 59, are from the Los Angeles region. The third was found to be Matthew Anthony, a 44-year-old New Yorker.
According to reports, the three men went into the water at Rattlesnake Falls in Soda Springs on the afternoon of June 18 and did not come up. About 40 kilometers to the west of North Lake Tahoe is the area.
California
Authorities said they had to use a helicopter to pluck out a hiker who had fallen down a waterfall after he was tethered to a 150-foot rope.
According to the sheriff’s office, the three males were among six people who went to the falls. That night, the other three were evacuated out of the region.
With help from the California Highway Patrol and the Technical Rescue Team of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, members of the sheriff’s dive and search-and-rescue teams searched the area for the three individuals who went missing. However, officials claimed that strong winds and debris-induced poor underwater visibility hampered such efforts.
The three was found Saturday morning by Juan Heredia, a diver with the nonprofit Angels Recovery Dive Team, located in Stockton, which specializes in rescuing drowned bodies for bereaved families.
California
On Friday afternoon, the body of a hiker who perished after falling on Kern County’s Woodland waterfall trail was found.
According to Heredia, he found Anthony’s body in the waterfall pool that empties into the North Fork American River, some 45 feet below the surface. At a depth of roughly 47 feet, he discovered Schoenecker and Creus’s remains united beneath the waterfall.
In order to find the spot and the dead, Heredia claimed he was recruited by a family friend and trekked roughly seven miles over difficult terrain.
According to Heredia, Creus, the three of them with the least amount of diving expertise, hesitated at first before plunging into the waterfall.
Heredia claimed that Big Matt Schoenecker, a former high school diving champion who was familiar with the waterfall, attempted to assist Valentino, who was in distress. When he began to panic, the two Matts rushed to his aid, but they were unable to save him and perished.
