On January 14, 2011 at 5:33pm while on patrol in Amistad National Recreation Area, National Park Service (NPS) agent received a report from Val Verde Sheriff's Office dispatch about a dead body at Rough Canyon boat dock. Agent responded to the area and arrived on scene at 5:49pm. As Agent pulled down to the dock he witnessed a body laying on the ramp half submerged in water and a bass boat tied to the dock. There were three witnesses on scene. NPS Agent approached the body and asked how long it had been since they found the body. One witness told me it had been 20 minutes since he and his brother found the body floating face down in the water.

Agent checked the body for a pulse and found none, the body was cold to the touch, and showed signs of lividity. The eyes were hazed over and all skin color had been lost. Based upon the amount of time the body had been in the water and its appearance, Agent did not perform CPR.

Agent asked the brothers to explain exactly what they had seen. They told Agent as they passed Big Canyon, heading up the Devils River, they witnessed the individual fishing from his bass boat at approximately 2pm. When they returned to the dock that evening, approximately 520pm, they observed the same bass boat in an adjacent cove approximately 200 yards from the Rough Canyon boat ramp. The boat didn’t have any occupants. They motored over to the abandoned boat and noticed that the engine was running, not in gear, and there was in fact no one in the boat. They then motored over to the dock to see if they could find the owner of the boat and found a male body floating face down in the water. They asked someone near the dock to call for help and they pulled the body to the edge of the water. While at the dock the brothers said the red ball cap was on the dock with a wet spot on the dock. A wallet was found on board the boat and the body was identified. Val Verde Sheriff’s Office arrived on the scene at 601pm and took over the investigation. Deputy from CID were leading the investigation for Val Verde Sheriff’s Office. The boat was not inventoried by NPS for Fire extinguishers and other water safety equipment. On board the boat was a bottle of Crown Royal in plain view.

According to Game Warden, through information from Val Verde County CID, the victim had a laceration on his head. Cause of death will be determined when autopsy is complete. 
The third witness only called 911 and was not identified.
 Warden  believes victim while docking boat hit his head on dock and fell in the water. Autopsy was incomplete and Warden was unable to determine actual cause of death by incomplete autopsy.
Del Rio                       