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Missing rafter's body recovered from the Teton River

Officials say a 21-year-old Malad man drowned while floating the river in an inner tube on June 14.
Credit: KIFI
Authorities say a 21-year-old man is presumed drowned in the Teton River.

MALAD CITY, Idaho — Fremont County deputies have recovered the body of a missing rafter.

Thomas Calvin Willie, 21, of Malad, has been missing and presumed drowned since he fell off an inner-tube in the Teton River on June 14.

His body was retrieved Monday morning.

Fremont County Sheriff Len Humphries said Willie, a student at Brigham Young University-Idaho, was tubing with 10 other friends when the group encountered a low-head dam in the Wilford area.

Humphries says Willie got caught in the turbulence on the downstream side of the dam and drowned. He said Fremont County Search and Rescue arrived well after Willie had drowned, but the rescue team managed to retrieve two students who were still in the water after trying to rescue Willie.

Officials warn that low-head dams, also called diversion dams, are exceedingly dangerous because the water spilling over the top of the dam creates a hydraulic effect that can trap a person underwater, even if they are wearing a life jacket. Humphries says anyone planning a float trip should be familiar with the stretch of water and research the locations of low-head dams before they embark.

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