Update: Search suspended for Ceres man who drowned at New Melones Reservoir

UPDATE: The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday night that its Boating Enforcement Division and Dive Team has suspended the four-day search for Richard Matlock.

“The extreme depths of Melones Reservoir makes rescue and recovery efforts highly strategic and very dangerous,” it posted on its Facebook page. “While the active search has been suspended, Boating Enforcement Units will continue to monitor the search area, as water and environmental changes are continuous.”

ORIGINAL STORY: The effort continues at New Melones Reservoir to locate and recover the body of a Ceres man who jumped in for a swim Saturday afternoon and never resurfaced.

The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office was joined Monday by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office boating unit to search for the 58-year-old. “Due to the lack of visibility and depth in the water, which can be up to 400 feet at times, boating units are using the assistance of sonar and remotely operated underwater vehicles for the search,” the Tuolumne department said in a Facebook post Monday.

The Merced County Sheriff’s Office also has assisted with sonar and camera equipment.

About the incident, Tuolumne sheriff’s spokeswoman Sgt. Andrea Benson said Tuesday, “On Saturday the 18th around 1:30 p.m., our office received a call from the Calaveras Sheriff’s Office that they had received a report that a man had jumped in the water to swim without a life jacket on and had not resurfaced. He was on a 2007 Glastron boat with his son-in-law at New Melones Lake.”

New Melones is a reservoir on the Stanislaus River. It lies partly in Calaveras County, partly in Tuolumne County.

Authorities have identified the victim only as age 58 and from Ceres, but friends and family members have identified him in Facebook posts and a gofundme.com page as Richard “Rick” Matlock.

“If you knew Rick, you know that he was always there to help someone in need,” the writeup on the gofundme page says. “We would love to now return that favor and bless his family in the time of this tragedy.”

This story was originally published August 21, 2018 at 9:10 AM.