drowning on wolf river

Does anyone have information on where the recent drowning took place. What were the causes?

Are you speaking of the drowning that took place on the wolf river Saturday July 18th?

yes

Man dies after fall from rocks on Wolf River

Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers

KESHENA — Family and friends witnessed a companion's fall to his death from rocks along the Wolf River on Saturday.

The man, 27, originally from Antigo but with an alternate address of Madison, had been rafting on the Wolf River when the accident happened.

According to the Menominee County Sheriff's Department, witnesses who were among those in the rafting party said the 27-year-old man stopped rafting and climbed some rocks near the dells area of the Wolf River.

He lost his footing and fell into the water, according to Deputy Travis Thyssen.

Emergency officials were called at 6 p.m. and around 90 minutes later, rescue personnel found the man in 15 feet of water. It happened six miles south of the Langlade County line in Menominee County, near South Branch, an unincorporated hamlet near Suring.

Thyssen said the man could have fallen from between 20 and 30 feet off the rocks into the water.

The Menominee County Sheriff's Department expects a coroner's report today to reveal the cause of death. The man's name will be released today.

Dive teams from Menominee and Shawano counties assisted in the recovery of the body, as did EAGLE III rescue helicopter from Bellevue. The autopsy is to be performed in Fond du Lac, Thyssen said.

Here is a better more accurate write up.

BREAKING NEWS: Man dies after diving off rocks in Wolf River
By Leader Staff Writer

MENOMINEE COUNTY — A 27-year-old man died on the Wolf River Saturday after diving off some rocks in the Keshena Dells area.

The Menominee County Sheriff’s Department issued a call for dive teams around 6:30 p.m. Shawano Area Fire Department’s Dive Team and the Menominee County Dive Team responded along with fire department personnel from Shawano and Menominee counties, said Sheriff’s Deputy Louis Moses III.

The man was found in about 13 feet of water. A family member said he might have slipped and hit his head on the way down, but the incident remains under investigation, Moses said.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene. The Sheriff’s Department said they were holding the man’s name pending notification of his family, Moses said.

It took a while to get rescue personnel to him.

“Where he was at it’s pretty secluded. There’s no roads around the area. They had to land the air boat about two miles down stream and head north on the river to the location where he was found,” Moses said.

Eagle III was also dispatched to the scene, but rescuers had already found the body.

The man had been with family members and a girlfriend, who witnessed the incident, Moses said.

Moses said many people dive off the rocks in that area. The area where the man was diving was about 20 feet high.

“People do dive off the rocks in this area, however it’s not recommended because usually every year we have an incident similar to this,” Moses said.

hi, why do you ask? Have you gone down shotgun eddy's?have you ever jumped?
Am curious about the article that said diving and the other said lost his footing and fell... did anyone see?

I have been down the Wolf River, including Section 4, dozens of times. I have done some rapids scouting but have not jumped off any rock cliffs. I prefer to get my thrills by kayaking. As a certified whitewater kayak instructor I understand the risks involved in paddling whitewater and recreating on our rivers. It is not morbid curiosity, instead it is an awareness that we can all learn from tragic events to hopefully prevent future tragedies. The first reports of this incident were only that a Wolf River rafter drowned. It appears in this instance that it was not really a rafting or kayaking fatality.

I was on one of the rafts that came through shortly after the man had fallen in the water. It was a horrible experience. My friends and i helped look for him for over 2 hours before any rescue personnel showed up.

i kno its late but i witnessed it i wasnt with the party but i did witness it he dove off the rocks and got stuck under the water

PPL...me and my family went to that very same cliff i can almost picture what the guy was doing wrong. their is a wole about 10 feet deep and only were you should jump off there. Yes my uncle and me are dumb from diving there but we did it and it we had the rush of jumping. But nvr dive if you dont know were to go. im am sorry to hear that your family member died. But you should nvr jump if you dont know were your going to land. I say jump just do "NOT" dive because youll get the same rush just not a split open head. BUT I HAD FUCKING FUN!!!!!

broken boat wrote:

I have been down the Wolf River, including Section 4, dozens of times. I have done some rapids scouting but have not jumped off any rock cliffs. I prefer to get my thrills by kayaking. As a certified whitewater kayak instructor I understand the risks involved in paddling whitewater and recreating on our rivers. It is not morbid curiosity, instead it is an awareness that we can all learn from tragic events to hopefully prevent future tragedies. The first reports of this incident were only that a Wolf River rafter drowned. It appears in this instance that it was not really a rafting or kayaking fatality.

I went rafting down the wolfe river and the rooster tail falls one summer about two or three years ago. I do not consider myself a big thrill seeker and I have to admit the whole experience was nerve racking and scarey! I did not consider it safe at all, especially when we got stuck on some rocks in the rapids and when we went over the falls. Myself and my partners both flipped out of the raft as it landed upside down at the bottom of the rooster tail falls. Personally, I will never go rafting down the wolfe river again. I was scared of drowning and because you go down the rapids and falls un escorted if someone falls out you can drown very quickly. I admire anyone that is not scared of rafting in rapids.....I am just too scared to do it again.

He was drunk and appeared to take a few steps to get a running approach but never jumped so was coming down feet first. Feet caught some rocks on the way down which flipped him over so he hit his head on the rocks as he entered the water head-first and likely broke his neck at that point. I think it's about 22 feet deep so plenty deep for jumping in if done appropriately. It's not a good spot to jump in though do to a slight curved angle in the rocks there and the fact that some boats come out of the Wolf River Dells kinda below those rocks. It was definately not a rafting accident.
Rafting is dangerous though and this accident showed how quickly things can go wrong and how difficult it can be to help when the victim is not wearing a life jacket. No one searching for the victim could get more than 15 feet deep to reach the bottom / body.

socialgirl wrote:

I was on one of the rafts that came through shortly after the man had fallen in the water. It was a horrible experience. My friends and i helped look for him for over 2 hours before any rescue personnel showed up.

Hi, perhaps you don't check this anymore since it's been nearly two years but I am looking for two girls on the Wolf River on the day of this accident. I was that guy's girlfriend who saw it happen. Where you one of the girls that helped me?

To set the record straight on this accident, he was not trying to dive off the rock. I was there. I was with his rafting party. He tripped on the top of the cliff, which is why his head hit the rocks. He landed feet first in the water and sank down, too far for anyone of us to find him and he then drowned. They should not allow anyone to be able to access that cliff and things like this could be prevented!

"They should not allow anyone to be able to access that cliff and things like this could be prevented!" is the comment above.

What? Are we supposed to put guard rails in the outdoors now?!

People, know your surrounding and your limitations. Cliffs are dangerous. If you don't want to fall stay away from them. Simple! Yeah, tragic things happen. You have to remain aware all the time.

Society can't be held responsible for people not being smart outdoors and we sure the heck can't be putting rails up at every, single natural area. That's outrageous.

it was his time

Hey just your opinion.. take it and shove it.. the tribe could help and prevent people for access this cliff.. esp. since they have it clearly marked for jumping with paintings etc. and it is not safe.. oh and never mind the fact that they also are allowed to sell TONS of alcohol all along the river which should be against the law.. do you see that on any other river in Wisconsin.. I don't think so.. oh that's right they are a federal nation and can play by their own rules.. how FUCKIN special. Yes people have their own level of responsibility when on the river but IN MY OPINION.. this particular accident would have NEVER happened if a) we won't have been able to purchase more alcohol on the river once we were out and b) he wouldn't have had easy access to getting up on the cliff.. he would have just floated to the end and still be here today..

ron pfeff wrote:

it was his time

I disagree... he should be here right now...

socialgirl wrote:

I was on one of the rafts that came through shortly after the man had fallen in the water. It was a horrible experience. My friends and i helped look for him for over 2 hours before any rescue personnel showed up.

Please tell me who you are... where you one of two girls on the rock with me after he went under?

Looking in Madison....sorry about what happened to your friend/boyfriend, but come on. He was the one that decided to drink, he was the one that decided to jump off those rocks...so yeah he is the only person responsible for his death. You can blame it on the tribe for selling drinks on the river or the fact that there isn't a railing installed to prevent people from climbing on the cliffs, but fact of the matter is, it was his own fault. It sucks, but yeah no one else to blame here. And you say you were in his rafting party, why didn't you try and stop him from doing this? Guess you weren't thinking either, you could have discouraged him from jumping. But you and the rest of the party were probably cheering for him to jump. Its people like you in society that really piss me off, never take responiblity for your own actions, its always somebody else's fault.