Coroner identifies man found dead in Columbia River near Port of Pasco

The body of a man found Monday morning in the Columbia River has been identified and his cause of death determined.

Ricardo Aguilar, 43, of the Tri-Cities, died of accidental freshwater drowning, said Franklin County Coroner Curtis McGary.

“There were no signs of foul play or anything,” he said.

Pasco police and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office were called to an industrial dock south of the Port of Pasco earlier this week.

A fisherman had spotted a body in the water and had reached out to law enforcement. Police do not believe Aguilar had been in the water a long time, and were able to recover his body at around 2 p.m. on Monday.

This story was originally published March 18, 2026 at 2:30 PM.

CP

Cameron Probert

Tri-City Herald

509-416-6478

Cameron Probert covers breaking news and education for the Tri-City Herald, where he works to answer reader questions about why police officers and firefighters are in your neighborhood. He studied communications at Washington State University.

Eric Rosane

Tri-City Herald

509-380-9121

Eric Rosane is the Tri-City Herald’s Civic Accountability Reporter focused on Education and Local Government. Before coming to the Herald in February 2022, he worked at the Daily Chronicle in Lewis County covering schools, floods, fish, dams and the Legislature. He graduated from Central Washington University in 2018.  Support my work with a digital subscription