RedactedNarrative: Vessel – 6’ Rubber Raft
  
  On 08/20/2016, at about 09:00 p.m., this vessel was paddling in the Tumwater Canyon portion of the Wenatchee River, located just west of Leavenworth, in Chelan County, WA.
  
  According to Law Enforcement, on this date, at about 09:15 p.m., they were advised of a rafting accident.  Two people had gone into the river when their small raft overturned.  The incident occurred near milepost 98.5 along U.S. Highway 2 and the subjects from the raft were missing.  
  
  Rescue units were called to the scene.  Shortly after their arrival, Officers were advised that one of the two missing persons, an adult female (Occupant), was located alive in the river holding onto a rock and needed to be rescued by swift water personnel.  An adult male (Operator) was still missing.  The incident had not been reported until after hours of darkness.  It was later determined that two subjects in a separate raft had self-rescued and were eventually able to access the highway and flag down a Washington State Patrol Trooper for assistance.  
  
  Officers arrived at a staging area that had been established along the eastbound shoulder of Highway 2 at milepost 99.  The female survivor (Occupant) was located in the water along the north shoreline of the Wenatchee River at that location.  Chelan County Swift Water Rescue personnel arrived and were able to access Occupant and bring her onto the shore.  She was treated for cold exposure and minor lacerations.  Based on witness accounts, the missing man, Operator, was about ¼ mile further up river from where Occupant was found.  There was a high probability that Operator had been washed through what are known as the “Exit” rapids at milepost 99 and could have severe injuries.  
  
  According to the witness, he, his father (Operator), his wife, Occupant, and son, and had decided to go rafting in the Wenatchee River Saturday evening.  They put in two small rubber rafts below the Chelan County PUD Tumwater Dam near milepost 95 on Highway 2.  Witness was on one raft with his 12 year-old son while his father, Operator, went in the second raft with his wife, Occupant.  They started to float the river around 07:30-07:45 p.m.  
  
  Witness said that they did not realize the hazards involved with the swift water rapids further downstream.  None of the four subjects were equipped with PFDs.  He said they entered the rapids (near milepost 98.5), his father, Operator, began yelling to him that they needed to get out of the river.  It was about that time when Operator jumped out of the raft he was in with Occupant.  The raft then apparently flipped and Occupant was ejected into the water.  Operator was seen briefly attempting to hold onto the raft at one point.  Witness said he and his 12 year-old son were able to maneuver their raft to the north shore of the river and eventually climbed up to the highway and began searching for Operator and Occupant.
  
  The raft that Operator and Occupant had been using was located just downriver from the point where Occupant was rescued.  Numerous search personnel searched for Operator from 09:30 p.m. until 05:00 a.m.  They searched the river extensively using lights, NVG's and a thermal imagining device.  Search teams checked the area where Operator was reportedly last seen to a point downriver well beyond where the raft was located stuck on top of boulders.  There was no sight of Operator during the first operational period.  The search for Operator was officially suspended at 05:00 a.m. with a plan to reinitiate the search at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday morning (08/21/2016).
  
  On Sunday, 08/21/2016, at 06:00 a.m., Chelan County Sheriff's Office arranged for their “AIR-10” helicopter to launch at 09:00 a.m. for an aerial search of the Wenatchee River from milepost 98 on Highway 2 downriver to the Icicle Road Bridge.  At 07:00 a.m., search personnel began staging and planning for the second operational period.  At 07:40 a.m., while search teams were beginning to deploy, Officers were advised via radio that family members had just called to report that they believed they had located the body of Operator in the river near “Pacific Crest Drive” off of Icicle Road.  
  
  Officers met Witness and he confirmed that they had located what they believed to be the body of his father while checking down private driveways along Icicle Road which lead to the river.  Officers, along with Witness, drove to a residence located just past Pacific Crest Drive.  The driveway headed due west toward the Wenatchee River.  Witness pointed downslope from the property to a group of large rocks in the center of the river.  Officers observed the body of a male subject wearing bright blue tee-shirt and gray/white shorts lying face down on a boulder in the center of the river.  The subject appeared obviously deceased.
  
  Using a longboard and rope system two technical swift water team members accessed the boulder and secured the body with ropes.  The body was recovered onto the longboard and then guided to the east shore of the river.  The body was positively identified by family members on scene.
  
  At this time it is believed that Operator struck his head at least twice while in the river rapids after leaving the raft.  The body was extensively rigored.  Officers were informed by the Coroner's Office that Operator had obviously been deceased for several hours, and likely died Saturday evening.  The exact cause of death will be determined by the Coroner's Office.   
  
  1 Injury / 1 Fatality
  No Apparent Alcohol Involvement
  No Vessel Damage Reported
  The Operator/Deceased Was Not Wearing a PFD
  The Operator/Deceased Did Not Have a Mandatory Boater Education Card