Search Resumes For Missing Man Believed To Have Drowned

LIVERMORE, CA — Alameda County sheriff's deputies are continuing to search for a 71-year-old Tracy man who is believed to have fallen into the Delta-Mendota Canal in a rural area near Livermore on Monday evening, a sheriff's spokesman said. This is the third day of searching for the fisherman, whose name has not been released. Officials will search the 20 mile stretch regularly for the man, according to Sgt. Ray Kelly said.

The man, who is retired, fishes at the canal from about 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. every day and his family became concerned when he didn't return by 10 p.m. Monday, Kelly said. Kelly said the man's sons began to search for him at about 3 a.m. Tuesday and sheriff's deputies joined the search at daylight but he hadn't been found by the end of the day on Tuesday.

Deputies are using a drone, a helicopter, dogs, motorcycles and a foot search to look the man. The 71-year-old man's sons found his car, which contained the man's tackle box and personal items, in a parking lot near the canal Tuesday morning but so far there's no sign of the man, according to Kelly.

There's evidence that the man slipped down a slope into the canal and his hat was found 3 miles downstream, Kelly said. The water in the canal is about 18 feet deep, according to Kelly.

By Bay City News and Autumn Johnson

Photo of deputies searching canal on Wednesday courtesy Alameda County Sheriff's Office