BOISE, Idaho — Editor's note: This story was updated July 27, 2023, after the Ada County Coroner released the name of the man who drowned.
The body of an Ontario man who drowned at Lucky Peak Reservoir Sunday has been found and recovered.
The Ada County Sheriff's Office said the 33-year-old was on a ski boat with several other people Sunday evening around 5 p.m., when he jumped into the water without a lifejacket, trying to help his kids who had fallen off a tube.
The Ada County Coroner on Thursday morning identified the man as Rodolfo Thomas, and listed accidental drowning as the cause and manner of death.
Recovery crews were out on the water at 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning to search. They located the man's body around 11 a.m., very close to where he had gone into the water, about 300-400 yards from Turner Gulch.
"It's challenging and emotionally draining. We have deep sympathy for the family, and I can only imagine being in their spot and having to deal with a tragedy like this," Kevin Lowry, a patrol lieutenant with the Ada County Sheriff's Office said.
Crews were out Sunday evening after Thomas went missing. Boise Fire and the ACSO made multiple dives near where the man went into the water, but dive teams were limited on the depths they could go.
"Because it's over 100 feet, we are regulated by OSHA - anything over 100 feet we're not allowed to dive," Lt. Lowry said.
Law enforcement called in the help of Gene and Sandy Ralston, underwater search and recovery experts from Kuna who use a special deep water sonar.
"The system we use is housed in a heavy torpedo-shaped object that we tow 10 or 15 feet off the bottom," Gene Ralston said.
The sonar reflects sound waves off the bottom of the reservoir, and then processes that reflection into an image. Ralston says that most law enforcement agencies use a transducer that's mounted on the hull of their boat.
Crews were able to locate Thomas' body 174 feet underwater.
"One of the people on the boat happened to take a photo just moments before he drowned," Ralston said. "And we were able to get the GPS coordinates from that photo, and he's probably 150 feet away from those coordinates."
Marine deputies were on the scene minutes after emergency dispatch received the call Sunday evening.
"We were able to mark that spot, and those are the search points we started our search with - eyewitness marks and the marks we made when we got there," Lt. Lowry said.
The man's family was at Lucky Peak Reservoir when officials located the body.
"We have our Crisis Intervention Team that specialize in tragedy, mental health - those kinds of calls," Lt. Lowry said.
The man's body was recovered Tuesday afternoon around 2. Ralston used a remote operated vehicle (ROV) with two cameras and a scanning sonar device.
"It also has a grabbing device on it that has been redesigned to fully encircle a full-grown male's wrist or ankle," Ralston said.
Ralston recovered his first drowning victim from the Boise River in 1983. He's recovered 131 bodies over his decades of experience.
"People always, always have hope," Ralston said. "And even when you find them, it's like they passed away all over again...And no, it doesn't really get any easier. It gets more gratifying, though. We've got another family's loved one home - and that's what matters."
Ralston says that in addition to helping bring closure to families, a critical part of recovering a body is being able to obtain a death certificate, which can help families with financial affairs and life insurance.
The Ada County Sheriff's Office is stressing the importance of wearing a life jacket. Lucky Peak has loaner stations where you can borrow a life jacket for a day.
"The water is 68 degrees, it's very cold. You get that take-your-breath-away sensation when you enter the water, and sometimes that's too much for a person to overcome." Lt. Lowry said. "So, we really just want to deliver that message of safety - the PFDs, the life jackets and the importance of wearing those to avoid a tragedy like this."
A GoFundMe has been established to assist Thomas' family with search, rescue and funeral expenses. The fundraiser is available by clicking here.
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