RedactedNarrative: On 4/8/17 at approximately 3:30pm three people launched their kayaks on the Vermilion River near the Route 23 bridge. At approximately 3:45pm they came to a railroad bridge approximately 2 miles downstream. At the railroad bridge Operator1''s kayak struck a log next to the bridge''s northern support. Operator1''s kayak turned sideways in the current and capsized. Operator1 entered the water at this time. 
  
  Subject was able to paddle to Operator1, who was floating in the water. Operator1 grabbed onto Subject''s paddle and Subject pulled Operator1 to his kayak. Operator1 grabbed the bow of Subject''s kayak. Operator1 and Subject both let go of Subject''s paddle when Operator1 grabbed.  As the bow of Subject''s kayak began to go into the water due to the weight, Operator1 let go of the kayak. Without his paddle Subject was unable to maneuver his kayak to Operator1.
  
  Subject2 had paddled to shore while this was going on. Subject2 was thinking if Operator1 got caught on branches near the shore he would be able to assist Operator1 better from the shore. He was running along the shoreline watching Subject''s rescue attempt. After Operator1 let go of Subject''s kayak, Subject and Subject2 were yelling at Operator1 to swim to shore. Operator1 was moving toward the center of the river. Subject2 stated Operator1 did not make any attempt to swim. Subject2 said Operator1 looked like he was in shock and was just floating with the current. Subject2 said all he could see was Operator1''s head and shoulders. Approximately 30-60 seconds after Operator1 went into the water, Subject2 stated Operator1''s head went under the water and did not resurface.
  
  The only difference in Subject2 and Subject''s recount of the accident was the location of the one Personal Floation Device (PFD) that the group had. Subject2 stated the PFD was on Operator1''s kayak. Subject stated it was on his kayak and he tried to throw it to Operator1 after Operator1 had let go of Subject''s kayak. Neither mentioned the location of the PFD in their written statements. When I reinterviewed them 2 days later they could still not agree on who had the PFD. 
  
  I asked Operator1''s parents about Operator1''s boating experience and the kayak. The father said Operator1 had about 100 hours of boating with kayaks over the last couple of years. The father told me Operator1 had just gotten the Sun Dolphin Journey 10 SS and this was his third time out with it. 
  
  Using weather.gov, I determined the river conditions at the time of the accident were the following:
  River level-11 feet 
     - The river level was going down from a high of 14.68 feet on Thursday 4/6/17 
     - Flood stage is 16 feet
  River current-5000 cubic feet per second(CFS) 
     - The river current was slowing down from a high of 9000 CFS on Thursday 4/6/17
     - Normal level is 1000 to 3000 CFS
  
  On 4/10/17 Operator1''s body was located 1 mile downstream from the accident site. 
  
  On 4/25/17 the LaSalle County Coroner''s office ruled Operator1''s cause of death as drowning.
  