A man and his teenage stepson drowned while kayaking on the Yuba River.
A woman watched in horror as her husband and son drowned during a Father’s Day kayak outing on the Yuba River near Marysville, about 45 miles north of Sacramento.
• A father and stepson were kayaking on Father’s Day when they hit a swift current and went over a waterfall at the edge of a dam.
• The father tried to rescue the son, and then he too went over the falls.
• The mother and another couple were watching from a nearby island as both of the father and stepson drowned.
The tragic accident occurred on Sunday morning, according to a report in the Yuba County Appeal-Democrat.
Yuba County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Bill Siler said 43-year-old Lee Mattice III of Plumas Lake and his stepson, 17-year-old Tyler Minton, were each paddling their own kayaks on the Yuba River.
The teen’s mother and two friends had been able to beach their kayaks at an island nearby when Mattice and Minton approached the Daguerre Point Dam, where the current is very strong and fast.
“They’d never done it before and they didn’t know where they were,” Siler said.
The stranded group watched in horror as the teen lost control of his kayak and headed over the 20-foot waterfall. Mattice tried to rescue the boy, but was unable to do so. His kayak was swept by the swift current and he, too, went over the falls.
Two men who were fishing near the base of the waterfall saw Mattice in the water and called 911. The pulled Mattice to shore and tried to resuscitate him, but it was too late. Rescue workers who responded to the call pronounced Mattice dead at the scene.
Siler and his partner found Minton about three miles below the dam, Siler said. Emergency responders took him by ambulance to Rideout Memorial Hospital in Marysville, where he was pronounced dead.
Minton’s mother and the other two stranded kayakers were rescued by a California Highway Patrol helicopter.
The dam is located where the North, Middle, and South Forks of the Yuba converge and feed into one river, said Smartville swift-water rescue team Mike Davis. An unusually heavy snow pack in the Sierra Nevada this year has made the dam especially dangerous, he said.
“Our river is swollen, it’s moving fast, and it is cold,” Davis said. The water temperature near the dam is in the low 40s, he said.
There are signs upstream warning of the potential danger, but that has not hampered the popularity of the river among kayakers. Even pros can sometimes have trouble on the river. In March, world-champion junior kayaker Jason Craig had to be rescued after he hit some rocks and broke his back and pelvis.
The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have been representing drowning victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.
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