Man Drowns After Canoe Overturns In Sacramento River

Tehama County officials have found the body of a man who drowned while trying to return to a flood-marooned home. At 11:39PM Friday night deputies were sent to the Sacramento River in the area of Jelly’s Ferry Road and Saron Fruit Colony because people reported hearing voices yelling for help. Two men and a woman had been trying to reach their home, which wasn’t flooded but had become an island surrounded by floodwaters. The trio was using a canoe to try and reach the home but in doing so the canoe overturned, dumping the three of them into the cold swift water. None of them was wearing a life jacket. At around 3:30AM deputies with help from the CHP managed to find and rescue a man and a woman. The other man, identified as 35-year-old Michael Keaohou Lujan, was not found. The rescued pair was hospitalized because of their lengthy exposure to the elements. Deputies and a CHP helicopter returned to the area Saturday but they still could not find Lujan. On Sunday Lujan’s backpack was found and during a search of the nearby area the body of Lujan was found among the trees. An autopsy done Tuesday confirmed that he had drowned.

There is no custom code to display.