San Jose man missing at Tuolumne County swimming hole where 2 drowned last year
Hazardous conditions have halted the search for a man who went missing at a swimming hole in Tuolumne County last weekend.
The San Jose resident, 29, was at God’s Bath, along the Clavey River about 15 miles east of Sonora, when he disappeared Saturday, May 14, the Sheriff’s Office reported. His name has not been released.
Snowmelt and rocky terrain have made it too dangerous to continue the search for now, a sheriff’s spokesman told mymotherlode.com Wednesday. The Clavey, a tributary to the Tuolumne River, does not have any dams to moderate the runoff.
A witness reported that the man jumped in the water and did not resurface, the local news website said.
It happened about a year after two other Bay Area men drowned at God’s Bath. Rinoel Villena, 25, of Daly City and Benedict Rozario, 20, of Pittsburg were part of a large group visiting the site. A third person went under but managed to get out safely.
Sierra Nevada streams can run high, despite the three-year drought, as the peak snowmelt happens from April to July. The water is also cold.
