FORT COLLINS, Colo — A Fort Collins family is stressing the importance of wearing a life jacket after they say their loved one drowned in a northern Colorado reservoir.
Deyanira Rodriguez-Lopez said her brother Uriel Rodriguez-Lopez, 24, was a husband and father of two young girls and an avid fisherman.
She said he spent Tuesday at Lon Hagler Reservoir in Larimer County near Loveland.
"That was his favorite thing to do, was to find new bodies of water and explore new lakes," said Rodriguez-Lopez.
By Tuesday night, a storm had come through, and his family said they couldn't reach him. That's when Deyanira said they started to panic.
By early Wednesday morning, they called the Larmier County Sheriff's Office.
Authorities discovered his body Wednesday evening without a life vest.
"It was a dream. It was a dream," said Deyanira in an interview with Denver7 Saturday at the family's home in Fort Collins.
So far this year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife says water deaths are happening at an alarming rate.
2022 was a record year with 42 deaths.
In 2023, there were 32 deaths.
A spokesperson for CPW said this year, we are approaching 20 before the Fourth of July.
Through their sadness, the Rodriguez-Lopez family is sharing an important message.
"I just urge everybody to wear life jackets...biggest thing, biggest thing," said Deyanira.
Uriel leaves behind a wife and two daughters, who are just two years old and nine months old.
The family started this GoFundMe to help with his funeral expenses.
