An employee with the Turlock Irrigation District drowned over the weekend at the Don Pedro Reservoir, officials said Monday.The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office said its deputies went to the lake near Moccasin Point around 11:37 a.m. Sunday for a report of a drowning. There, they had learned that 62-year-old Mitchell Rogers had gone under the water while swimming a rope out to a drifting boat, but he never resurfaced.Deputies spoke with witnesses who showed them where Rogers was last seen, the sheriff’s office said. Those witnesses said Rogers was trying to retrieve an unattended boat drifting in the bay when he went underwater.The sheriff’s office said its boating unit searched the area and found Rogers’ body underwater after a search that lasted more than two hours. Dive team members with the agency recovered the body and confirmed it was Rogers.A spokesperson with the Turlock Irrigation District confirmed the person who drowned Sunday was a seasonal employee with the organization but would not comment further out of respect for the employee and his family.Next of kin have been notified, and the sheriff’s office said the official cause of death will be based on an autopsy.See news happening? Send us your photos or videos if it’s safe to do so at kcra.com/upload.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
An employee with the Turlock Irrigation District drowned over the weekend at the Don Pedro Reservoir, officials said Monday.
The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office said its deputies went to the lake near Moccasin Point around 11:37 a.m. Sunday for a report of a drowning. There, they had learned that 62-year-old Mitchell Rogers had gone under the water while swimming a rope out to a drifting boat, but he never resurfaced.
Deputies spoke with witnesses who showed them where Rogers was last seen, the sheriff’s office said. Those witnesses said Rogers was trying to retrieve an unattended boat drifting in the bay when he went underwater.
The sheriff’s office said its boating unit searched the area and found Rogers’ body underwater after a search that lasted more than two hours. Dive team members with the agency recovered the body and confirmed it was Rogers.
A spokesperson with the Turlock Irrigation District confirmed the person who drowned Sunday was a seasonal employee with the organization but would not comment further out of respect for the employee and his family.
Next of kin have been notified, and the sheriff’s office said the official cause of death will be based on an autopsy.
See news happening? Send us your photos or videos if it’s safe to do so at kcra.com/upload.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel