Two brothers have been found dead after a search along a dangerous section of the Trinity River in Northern California.
Lex Rincon, 45, and his 18-year-old brother Krishna died Wednesday in the Willow Creek area of Humboldt County.
Humboldt County sheriff’s deputies were called to Tagmeyer Beach at 10:14 a.m. after a report of a man who had been seen struggling in the river’s current the previous day.
When deputies arrived, they found a vehicle still parked near the riverbank.
Search teams combed the waterway and the surrounding river bar as they worked to determine what had happened.
Authorities ultimately recovered two bodies from the river. They were later identified as Lex Rincon, an Arcata resident, and Krishna Rincon, also known as Ganesh, who was from New York.
Autopsies are expected next week, but officials said the circumstances so far appear consistent with accidental drowning.
With much of the brothers’ family living in New York, relatives now face the trip to Humboldt County to say their final goodbyes.
“Last minute plane tickets are not cheap,” the family said in a statement, urging the community to help a family navigate their “extremely difficult time.”
“Our friend Lex was unrelentingly kind, determined, creative, and funny, and I am privileged to have known him for so long, and to have been introduced to his gentle and curious brother Ganesh.
“I am heartbroken by their deaths, as are all that knew and loved them,” said Lex’s friend, Gregory Terry.