A 26-year-old Stevenson man was missing and presumed drowned Friday night in the Columbia River. More searching for him is planned this morning using a boat with side-scanning sonar, police said.
Rescuers were called to the Stevenson boat launch about 4:30 p.m. Friday, according to a bulletin from Undersheriff Dave Cox with the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office.
Witnesses said the man had been on a small raft just south of the docks when it capsized. He tried to swim to shore, but the current carried him a short distance downstream and he went under.
The man, who had not been wearing a flotation vest, wasn’t seen again, the bulletin said.
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The sheriff’s Marine Unit and Dive Team searched in the river’s strong current for more than two hours but didn’t find the man.
His name wasn’t immediately released pending notification of family members, Cox said.
Officials contacted the Oregon State Patrol, which plans to bring its Marine Unit, with side-scanning sonar, to the windsurfing area just south of the Stevenson boat launch. Beginning about 7:30 a.m. today, the boat crew will help divers with the search.
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