Mill Creek man drowns in Idaho’s Salmon River Middle Fork

Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho — A Mill Creek man is dead after a boating accident on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Custer County, Idaho.

Robert Gray, 63, was floating the river Tuesday afternoon “when his raft struck a log jam, throwing him into the water,” according to a news release from the Custer County Sheriff’s Office. The accident took place around 2:30 p.m. near the Boundary Creek boat launch, northwest of Stanley.

“Robert Gray, tired and cold, could not self-rescue and was carried away by the swift current,” the release said. According to the release, the river was running high with a water temperature of 40 degrees. The sheriff’s office was notified of the incident around 7 p.m. Tuesday by the victim’s family.

Around noon Wednesday, Custer County Search and Rescue located a body matching Gray’s description by helicopter, submerged in a log jam downstream from Boundary Creek, the release said. Gray’s body was still in the river, as rescuers determined the water was too dangerous for retrieval at the time, the release said.