Drowning victim found, identified

By Uriah A. Kiser

Published: June 9, 2008

STAFFORD — Stafford deputies on Monday morning recovered the body of a boy who was reported missing Sunday afternoon while swimming at Falmouth’s Old Mill Park.

Gilberto Lopez Cortez, 17, of Maryland, was visiting the Rappahannock River with his Baltimore-area church group, according to Mark Stone, spokesman for the Stafford County Fire and Rescue Department.

Members of the Fredericksburg Fire and Rescue Department spotted the body at about 10:45 a.m. on Monday. The initial search for the victim began immediately following the boy’s reported disappearance, at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Rescue efforts switched to recovery efforts around 8 p.m. on Sunday evening when officials lost any hope of finding the boy alive.

There are no signs of foul play in the drowning death, according to Bill Kennedy, spokesman for the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office. The body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office in Richmond.

This is Stafford’s first drowning in the Rappahannock this year, according to Kennedy.

Ben Morton, who manages the Virginia Outdoor Center in Fredericksburg, dropped off a group of canoers at Old Mill Park an hour-and-a-half before the drowning Sunday. He said he received a call at 2:45 p.m. to assist in the search for the boy.

“The current was much heavier than normal because of the recent rains that we got last week,” said Morton.

After helping authorities string a line across the river to anchor a search raft, Morton went nearly 300 yards down river to Fredericksburg’s City Dock to continue the search.

Water currents could have played a role in the teenager’s untimely death, said Bill Micks, owner of the Virginia Outdoor Center.

“Water levels change four times a day; that’s when the tides come in and go out,” said Micks. “What might have been waist deep water when you went into the river could be deeper, and much faster flowing water now.”

Micks said that due to debris in the water, deep holes, rocks and a swimmer’s inability to keep pace with currents, spells danger for anyone on the Rappahannock.

“Imagine when you’re in the ocean waist-deep, when the wave comes in and goes out, it pulls you out a little; imagine this, only it never stops” said Micks. “Your feet can touch the bottom but you can’t stand up.”

The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office reminds residents who venture into the river to use floatation devices at all times.