Two people are believed drowned over the holiday weekend at Rock Island State Park with search and rescue personnel still looking for one of the missing men.
The still-missing victim, identified only as a 55-year-old Nashville man, continued to be the point of a massive search by rescue teams Tuesday, three days after he disappeared while swimming with his son on Saturday. Investigators with the White County Sheriff’s Department have not released the victim’s name since he remains missing.
According to reports, the victim was swimming near an area known as Twin Falls in the vicinity of the power house when he was knocked off his feet by fast-moving water and was swept downstream out of sight of his son. The area where the two were swimming is posted as off limits for swimmers due to swift currents.
Members of several rescue organizations, including the Warren County Rescue Squad, have continued dragging operations since the disappearance.
Boats were in the water looking for the Nashville man the following day when an alert was issued for another missing swimmer, this time down river toward the Sand Bar area of the park. The Sand Bar is a public swimming area which plays hosts to thousands of swimmers each year.
According to sheriff’s department reports on the Sunday afternoon incident, the victim, Juan Pedraza, 20, of Texas was trying to swim across the river with friends at the Sand Bar when he experienced difficulty.
“His friends saw him struggling,” said Sheriff Jackie Matheny, noting the man dipped below the water and did not come back up.
Rescue workers dragging the river for the Nashville man rushed to the scene to find the victim had been pulled from the water already. Attempts to resuscitate the man by CPR were not successful.
One drowns, one missing at Rock Island
