Missing Swimmer Presumed Drowned Identified as Reston Resident

By DEB BELT (Patch Staff)

Kayakers continued Thursday afternoon to search for the body of a Reston man who is believed to have drowned in the Potomac River, while boat crews will resume the task Friday morning, say Montgomery County officials.

Montgomery County police spokesman Paul Starks told The Washington Post that the missing man is Marco Reyes-Sanchez, 21, of Reston.

Two swimmers in their 20s entered the river from the Virginia shoreline near Sandy Landing Tuesday afternoon, says Pete Piringer, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services spokesman. One man came out of the river, while the other has been missing since then and is presumed drowned.

The duo may have jumped from cliffs into the river just south of Great Falls, Piringer said. Nearby kayakers tried to help find the missing swimmer without success.

Rescue boats from Fairfax County’s Great Falls fire station searched the river extensively, with a ground search along the shoreline starting in mid-afternoon on Wednesday. The National Park Service provided a helicopter to search from the air, a spokeswoman said. Searchers on horseback joined the hunt for Reyes-Sanches on Thursday.

Piringer said people are not allowed into that section of the river unless they are in a boat.

Photo of rescue effort from Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services spokesman Pete Piringer