Crews Use Drones To Assist In Search For Young Man Who May Have Drowned In Chatfield Reservoir
(CBS4) - The search for a missing swimmer in Chatfield Reservoir is continuing. Crews were out all morning looking for a teenager who went in the water on Friday and never resurfaced. The search was called off for the day in the early afternoon and was set to get going again on Tuesday.
Part of the shoreline and parking lot were off limits while authorities did their work on Monday.
Crews were using sonar over the weekend in the attempt to locate the teen in the water. On Monday they were also using drones to "get a perspective from the air of the search area," according to South Metro Fire Rescue.
Update - South Metro and @WestMetroFire are using drones to get a perspective from the air of the search area. Divers are currently on the water monitoring and searching target areas. pic.twitter.com/563clLKdFJ
— South Metro Fire Rescue (@SouthMetroPIO) August 3, 2020
Witnesses to Friday's incident said two people were swimming about 60 feet away from the shore when they started to experience difficulty staying afloat. Nearby boaters only managed to save one of the two people.
The other likely went underwater after stepping off an underwater landing. He was described as an 18-year-old by authorities over the weekend.
"We also have underwater what we call ROV -- 'remote operated' -- equipment that we'll use. It could use sonar, it could use video cameras, it's got lights and it's got a manipulator that could recover anything we may find. It's challenging though, because there's (a lot of) vegetation there. There's the big dropoff, so you could be looking at a steep incline in the water," said Jason Clay, spokesman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
There have been 23 drownings this year so far statewide. Last year was the deadliest in Colorado history when 24 people drowned.