Divers find body in Snake River after boat overturns in Franklin County storm

The body of a 21-year-old man was found early Sunday afternoon in the Snake River after a small boat capsized near Lyons Ferry State Park Saturday evening.

A man and a woman on the boat made it to shore, and a rescue effort was launched for the third person, according to information from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and Columbia Basin Dive Rescue.

The three people from the Touchet area had been fishing, when a thunderstorm blew through, making the water rough.

They initially thought they could ride it out, said Franklin County Coroner Curtis McGary.

None were wearing life jackets, said Scott Ruppelius, spokesman for Columbia Basin Dive Rescue.

The missing man, Rojelio Saldana, was not found Saturday night and the search resumed Sunday morning with the sheriff’s office marine patrol joined by dive rescue.

Dive rescue used sonar to identify two places to search in the river and found the body in the second place searched.

Saldana graduated from Touchet High in 2018, where he played football. For his birthday in April, he created a fundraiser on Facebook for the World Wildlife Fund.

This story was originally published May 31, 2020 at 4:21 PM.