Authorities Identify Man, 21, Who Drowned At Russian River Beach

SONOMA COUNTY, CA -- A man who drowned Sunday at a beach along the Russian River was publicly identified late Monday morning by the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office as 21-year-old Carmelino Domingo-Garcia of Oakland.

Domingo-Garcia's body was recovered from the water following a multi-agency search that began at 4:30 p.m. when a 911 caller reported that a man had disappeared under the water at Steelhead Beach Regional Park in Forestville, said Misti Harris, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection personnel and Sonoma County Sheriff’s deputies were immediately dispatched to the scene, she said.

According to Harris, Domingo-Garcia was with a group of friends and family on a sandbar about 300 yards upstream from the main beach when he swam across the river to the shore, then began swimming back.

"He went under the water on the way back to his friends and family and did not resurface," Harris said.

"(Fire and Sonoma County Regional Parks) personnel searched for the victim by water as sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers searched by land," Harris said. "The sheriff’s helicopter, Henry-1, searched by air."

At 5:05 p.m, searchers located Domingo-Garcia at the bottom of the river in a deeper pool of water approximately five yards deep and about five yards south of where he was last seen, according to Harris.

Fire personnel pulled Domingo-Garcia to shore and determined he had drowned, Harris said. Shortly thereafter, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

"It does not appear that alcohol was a factor in his death," Harris said.

"We send our condolences to the victim’s family," she said.

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