COLUMBUS — The Colorado County Sheriff's Office released infor - mation about a local man drowning in the Colorado River.
According to a press release, the Col - orado County Sheriff's Office received a call from a concerned citizen about an abandoned canoe in the Colorado River stuck in debris under the railroad bridge near Beason's Park. The Columbus Vol - unteer Fire Department (CVFD), Texas Parks & Wildlife Game Wardens, and Deputies were dispatched to Beason's Park. On arrival, deputies spoke with the reporting party, who indicated that the abandoned canoe belonged to a person who was known to fish in the river fre - quently. CVFD members, accompanied by deputies, utilized their water rescue boat and traveled upstream to search for the missing person. The search team located personal items on a sandbar that were determined to belong to the missing person, identi - fied as Daniel Joseph Baca, 63, of Co lumbus. The Columbus Police Department went to Baca's address and learned he was last seen in the early evening of May 2.
The CVFD, along with Lower Col - orado River Authority (LCRA) Rang -
ers, accompanied by game wardens, searched the river by boat, and Colorado County Office Emergency Management (OEM) utilized a drone to check river - banks. The search continued the morning of May 4 with LCRA Rangers setting up a command post on the ramp at Beason's Park. LCRA Rangers utilized two boats along with CVFD's rescue boat to search the area by water, and Texas Parks & Wildlife utilized a drone to check areas of the river while deputies searched the riverbank where Baca's personal items were located. The search was called off at dark and would resume the next day. On May 5, at approximately 11:30 a.m., the body of a deceased male, be -
lieved to be Baca, was located in the area not far from where Baca's personal be - longings were located. Justice of Peace, Pct. 3, Donald J. Clark, performed the inquest and or - dered an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death. The family of Baca was notified by a sheriff's inves - tigator who kept them informed during the ongoing search and recovery of their missing family member.
The Colorado County Sheriff's Of- fice would like to thank all agencies involved in the search and recovery: Columbus Volunteer Fire Department, Columbus PD, Texas Parks & Wild -
life, LCRA Ranger Division, Colorado County OEM, and the citizens who as -
sisted with the investigation."
