GRAND COUNTY, Colo. — A 56-year-old man is dead and another is missing after a raft they were in capsized on the Colorado River in the Yarmony Rapids area on Saturday. A third person in the raft was able to make it safely to shore.
The call for help came to the Grand County Communications Center around 3:40 p.m. A bystander was performing CPR on the man before paramedics arrived.
The 56-year-old Denver-area man was pronounced deceased shortly after EMS personnel arrived, according to the Grand County Sheriff’s Office. His name has not been released.
The search for the second person, a 61-year-old man, began immediately.
Emergency responders utilized additional rafts, ground crews, drones, and a Union Pacific Railroad Hi-Rail to search the river and surrounding area for the missing man. However, they were unable to locate him.
Preliminary reports were that neither subject was wearing a personnel flotation device (PFD), the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
Bureau of Land Management River Rangers will be conducting additional searches on Sunday. Anyone rafting in the area is encouraged to be vigilant and call or text 911 with any additional information or sightings.
