Tory J. Raether jumped into the river on Saturday, July 4, before he reportedly began to struggle against the current
Credit: Lake Norman Kiwanis Club/Facebook; Patrick Stoll/Alamy
NEED TO KNOW
- The body of a 55-year-old man who went missing after jumping into Idaho’s Snake River Canyon on Saturday, July 4, has been found
- Campers at the nearby McCoy Creek campground spotted Tory J. Raether’s body on Saturday, July 11, and paddleboarded out to him before alerting authorities
- Raether, from Charlotte in North Carolina, had reportedly traveled to the area with his wife and daughter to visit his other daughter, who lives nearby
A father’s body has been found a week after he was reported to have drowned in Idaho’s Snake River Canyon.
Tory J. Raether, from Charlotte in North Carolina, had been missing since Saturday, July 4, when he jumped into the river at Jumping Rock, a popular recreational spot, without wearing a life jacket, SVI-NEWS reported.
The location was around a quarter mile east of the Sheep Gulch Boat Ramp near the Wyoming city of Alpine, per the outlet.
Credit: Facebook
According to the publication, Raether began to struggle against the current. Others who had been with the 55-year-old investment officer at the time tried to save him, but they were unsuccessful.
Raether had traveled to the area with his wife and one of his daughters to visit another daughter, who lives in the nearby town of Jackson in Wyoming, per Cowboy State Daily.
Star Valley Search & Rescue, a voluntary team that works at the direction of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, had been searching daily with drones, rafts, jet skis and a jet boat.
According to the Jackson Hole News&Guide, the search expanded into the Palisades Reservoir after a few days.
Credit: Alamy
After a week, campers saw Raether’s body from the shore at about 11:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, July 11, Commander Matt McMurdo from Star Valley Search & Rescue confirmed, according to SVI-NEWS. The Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office also confirmed the news to the Jackson Hole News&Guide.
The campers, from the McCoy Creek campground area bordering the river, paddleboarded out to him before calling authorities, per SVI-NEWS.
The search and rescue team was already on the water at the time, meaning they were quickly able to recover the body, the outlet reported.
Credit: Bonneville Sheriff’s Office
Before Raether’s body was recovered, his best friend of 35 years told Cowboy State Daily how much Raether loved the area, saying that Jackson Hole was “one of his favorite spots in the country.”
“I went out there with him last year in August,” Brad Johnson told the outlet. “We rafted that very same river.”
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“Tory wasn’t just a friend to me — he was like a brother,” Johnson continued. “We were friends for 35 years, and I talked to him almost every day.
“You can’t capture Tory in one sentence. It’s impossible,” he insisted to the outlet.
PEOPLE has reached out to the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office for additional information, but did not immediately hear back.
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