Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Young Victims Swept Away in Kings River Torrent Are Identified
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 1 year ago on
May 23, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Fresno County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office has identified the victims in Sunday’s fatal tragedy on the Kings River as 4-year-old Santiago Barajas, and his sister, 8-year-old Victoria Barajas, of Fresno.

Rescuers recovered Santiago’s body from the Kings River at about 11 a.m. Monday, authorities said.

Fresno County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Botti said in an email that county fire personnel on a boat saw the boy beneath the water caught against a tree.

A firefighter was deployed into the water and recovered the body about 1.75 miles from where he initially went in on Sunday, Botti said.

Search-and-rescue personnel previously recovered  Victoria’s body on Sunday. The siblings were carried away by a fast-moving current driven by high water levels, authorities said.

Sheriff’s deputies and firefighters responded around 2 p.m. Sunday to an area of the river near Sanger, about a mile from Pine Flat Dam, the sheriff’s office said.

Victoria was found dead less than an hour later by rescuers using boats and a helicopter. They did not immediately say how the child died. She was found about one-fifth of mile from where she entered the water, Botti said.

Rivers Closed Due to Danger

The children, who were not wearing life jackets, entered the water with their mother and another adult while trying to make their way to climb on a specific rock.

The Kings and San Joaquin rivers have been closed to recreational users since March 14 because heavy winter storms and melting snow created high water levels and hazardous conditions, the sheriff’s department said.

“Numerous closure signs are placed along the waterways informing the public of the importance of staying out of the water,” the department said.

Warming weather is melting huge amounts of accumulated snow in the mountains that accumulated in a series of epic winter storms.

“The conditions of our waterways will only become more dangerous heading into summer as snow melts and dams release even more water into the rivers,” the sheriff’s office said. “The water remains cold, in the low 50s, the current is swift and trees serve as dangerous obstacles.

(Associated Press contributed to this story.)

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Voting Rights Under Fire in Texas: Over a Million Purged From Rolls, ACLU Warns

DON'T MISS

Bettors Banking on Eagles Resurgence, Cowboys Regression as NFL Season Begins

DON'T MISS

Abandoned Poodle Mix Adam Survives the Wild and Seeks a Forever Home

DON'T MISS

Labor Day Quiz: What Did Elvis Do Before He Was the ‘King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’?

DON'T MISS

Why Black Students Are Still Disciplined at Higher Rates: Takeaways From AP’s Report

DON'T MISS

Top Brazilian Judge Orders Suspension of X Platform in Brazil Amid Feud With Musk

DON'T MISS

Trump Reverses Course, Opposes Florida Abortion Rights Measure After Conservative Backlash

DON'T MISS

How a Real Estate Boom Drove Political Corruption in Los Angeles

DON'T MISS

Big Red Church Hosts Forum on Palestine on Saturday Night

DON'T MISS

Palestinian TikTok Star Who Shared Details of Gaza Life Under Siege Is Killed by Israeli Airstrike

UP NEXT

Bettors Banking on Eagles Resurgence, Cowboys Regression as NFL Season Begins

UP NEXT

Abandoned Poodle Mix Adam Survives the Wild and Seeks a Forever Home

UP NEXT

Labor Day Quiz: What Did Elvis Do Before He Was the ‘King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’?

UP NEXT

Why Black Students Are Still Disciplined at Higher Rates: Takeaways From AP’s Report

UP NEXT

Top Brazilian Judge Orders Suspension of X Platform in Brazil Amid Feud With Musk

UP NEXT

Trump Reverses Course, Opposes Florida Abortion Rights Measure After Conservative Backlash

UP NEXT

How a Real Estate Boom Drove Political Corruption in Los Angeles

UP NEXT

Big Red Church Hosts Forum on Palestine on Saturday Night

UP NEXT

Palestinian TikTok Star Who Shared Details of Gaza Life Under Siege Is Killed by Israeli Airstrike

UP NEXT

Valley PBS Taps Mollison to Be New President/CEO

Labor Day Quiz: What Did Elvis Do Before He Was the ‘King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’?

11 hours ago

Why Black Students Are Still Disciplined at Higher Rates: Takeaways From AP’s Report

11 hours ago

Top Brazilian Judge Orders Suspension of X Platform in Brazil Amid Feud With Musk

22 hours ago

Trump Reverses Course, Opposes Florida Abortion Rights Measure After Conservative Backlash

22 hours ago

How a Real Estate Boom Drove Political Corruption in Los Angeles

24 hours ago

Big Red Church Hosts Forum on Palestine on Saturday Night

24 hours ago

Palestinian TikTok Star Who Shared Details of Gaza Life Under Siege Is Killed by Israeli Airstrike

1 day ago

Valley PBS Taps Mollison to Be New President/CEO

1 day ago

Farber Campus Opening: ‘Where Students’ Dreams Can Flourish and Not Wither’

1 day ago

Visalia Rawhide and City Agree on Terms to Upgrade Stadium

1 day ago

Voting Rights Under Fire in Texas: Over a Million Purged From Rolls, ACLU Warns

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the removal of over one million voters from state rolls since 2020, sparking concern among voting rights ad...

5 hours ago

5 hours ago

Voting Rights Under Fire in Texas: Over a Million Purged From Rolls, ACLU Warns

9 hours ago

Bettors Banking on Eagles Resurgence, Cowboys Regression as NFL Season Begins

A black poodle's face with his tongue sticking out
10 hours ago

Abandoned Poodle Mix Adam Survives the Wild and Seeks a Forever Home

11 hours ago

Labor Day Quiz: What Did Elvis Do Before He Was the ‘King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’?

11 hours ago

Why Black Students Are Still Disciplined at Higher Rates: Takeaways From AP’s Report

22 hours ago

Top Brazilian Judge Orders Suspension of X Platform in Brazil Amid Feud With Musk

22 hours ago

Trump Reverses Course, Opposes Florida Abortion Rights Measure After Conservative Backlash

24 hours ago

How a Real Estate Boom Drove Political Corruption in Los Angeles

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend