Three men are missing and presumed dead in California after jumping into a river to save a struggling child. Witnesses say a group was fishing on the riverbank near the Three Mile Slough Bridge off Brannan Island State Recreation Area on Sunday when an 8-year-old child began struggling in the water, per NBC News. Five men entered the river, but only two returned with the child, who didn't require medical attention. Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies, who received a call around 1:30pm, searched for two hours before shifting their focus to a recovery mission assisted by fire officials and the Coast Guard, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The three men have yet to be found.
A friend at the scene identified the missing men as Guistillo Rivas, Edwin Perez, and Danilo Solorzano, all from Oakland, who came to the area every July 4 to camp, swim, and fish, per KTXL. "Three people, my friends ... and we used to come here all the time," Juan Cabrera, one of the two men who made it back to shore, tells KCRA. "This happened so fast." The incident occurred at "an unguarded swim beach ... mainly a fishing access off of an unregulated trail in the state park," says Capt. Paul Wissler with California State Parks. He adds that windy conditions combined with currents to create hazardous conditions Sunday. None of the men were wearing life jackets, per KTXL. (More missing person stories.)