Hope Fading After Marine Reservist Goes Missing While Tubing
SHERIDAN (CBS4) - Friends and family of a man who disappeared during a trip down the South Platte River in a tube are upset after a search for him was unsuccessful over the weekend.
Joe Goodwin, 20, of Littleton, was a member of the Marine Corps Reserve who went on a tubing trip with three others on Saturday.
"It's rather tragic. It's also very tragic they can't find where his body (is)," said Steve Pagano, the father of one of those tubers.
Sheridan police told CBS4 the group got in the river in the Aspen Grove area where the South Platte River is calm, but several miles down the river the water is running much higher with numerous rapids.
A witness late Saturday afternoon who saw the group at the Union Chutes area of the river said Goodwin was showing signs of panic.
"And he tried to walk over to the bank and the current swept him under," Kaitlyn Riebe said. "And he started spinning in the current and he was fighting and fighting. I saw his hands go up in distress and I was already on the phone (calling 911)."
Another witness who is also a lifeguard said she tried to swim after him but the currents got dangerous quickly in the water.
An immediate search for him on Saturday and then another on Sunday turned up nothing.
Pagano told CBS4 on Sunday his son was familiar with tubing, but he wasn't sure about Joe's experience.
"My son had been tubing on here before, but I don't think Joe had. And I think he was maybe not as experienced doing it," Pagano said.
Goodwin's brother wrote on his Facebook page "My brother Joe was in a tubing accident ... they still haven't found him yet. Please pray for him and for our family."
There were three other incidents over the weekend in which tubers or kayakers were swept away in Colorado waterways.