Washington man drowns in Idaho’s Salmon River Middle Fork

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A Washington man is dead after a boating accident on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Custer County.

Robert Gray, 63, of Mill Creek, Washington, was floating the river Tuesday afternoon “when his raft struck a log jam, throwing him into the water,” according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. The accident took place around 2:30 p.m. near the Boundary Creek boat launch, northwest of Stanley.

“Robert Gray, tired and cold, could not self-rescue and was carried away by the swift current,” the release said. According to the release, the river was running high with a water temperature of 40 degrees. The sheriff’s office was notified of the incident around 7 p.m. Tuesday by the victim’s family.

Around noon Wednesday, Custer County Search and Rescue located a body matching Gray’s description by helicopter, submerged in a log jam downstream from Boundary Creek, the release said. Gray’s body is still in the river, as rescuers have determined the river is currently too dangerous for retrieval, the release said.