Brothers missing after raft flips, sending them down Oregon river, sheriff says
Two men are missing after their raft flipped, throwing them down a swift-moving river, an Oregon sheriff’s office said.
Two brothers, ages 66 and 67, and another 61-year-old man were on a raft trying to cross the Clackamas River to get to Austin Hot Springs on Friday, May 19, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said in a May 21 Facebook post.
The raft flipped and sent “all the men down the river,” deputies said.
The 61-year-old man searched the area for the brothers but could not find them, the sheriff’s office said.
The missing men’s car was found on a nearby road, deputies said.
The sheriff’s office said it sent out a search and rescue team after it was clear the brothers were still missing.
Despite “diminishing daylight and swift moving and extremely high river conditions,” the team continued to search for the men “well into the overnight hours,” the sheriff’s office said.
Multiple agencies helped search for the missing men the next morning, the sheriff’s office said. However, they were not found.
The sheriff’s office warned those visiting the river to “use extreme caution as river levels are high and the currents are moving very quickly.
“It should be noted that Austin Hot Springs is private property and is closed to all public use,” deputies added. “Do not visit this site.”
Austin Hot Springs is about 80 miles southeast of Portland.
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