Carlos Sanchez Arizona man drowns in Gila river while searching for his mother’s missing ring after being taken by sudden current.
A missing Arizona man has been found deceased after he went searching for a missing ring in the river only to be taken away by a current over the weekend.
Carlos Sanchez, 53, and his girlfriend Laura Lopez were looking for a ring that the man’s mother had gifted him while snorkeling in Gila river near El Mirage and Indian Springs roads on Sunday. While they were in the water, Lopez felt a current take them under. She came up for air, but he didn’t, so she called 911 around 5 p.m.
The Avondale Police Department and MCSO arrived and searched the area. The MCSO helicopter flew over the river bottom but couldn’t find Sanchez. The search was suspended after it becoming too dark, AZ Family reported.
Area was not a swimmable area
On Monday morning, MCSO’s dive team searched the water and used an underwater robot in the river. Sanchez’s body was found just after 3 p.m. The area normally has water 6-10 feet deep. Lopez said they had been to that area before and that Sanchez was a good swimmer, nevertheless Maricopa County Sheriff’s Officials described the area as not as a ‘swimmable’ area, FOX10 reported.
‘He was here sometime back, and he lost his mother’s ring,’ said Sanchez’s nephew, Daniel Yescas according to FOX10.
‘He’s a beautiful man,’ said Yescas. ‘He’s always been there for me. He’s a father, a grandfather, a husband, he means so much to everybody.’
The man’s recovered body was turned over to the Office of the Medical Examiner, and staff will conduct toxicology tests. No foul play is suspected. The missing ring which Sanchez had lost during a prior visit to the river was not located.
