3 Hikers Found Dead Days After Jumping Into Waterfall In Remote Placer County

PLACER COUNTY, CA — The bodies of three hikers were recovered Sunday morning after the men jumped into a waterfall days earlier in a remote part of Placer County, authorities said.

The victims were identified Monday as 50-year-old Matthew Schoenecker of Los Angeles, 59-year-old Valentino Creus of Los Angeles and 44-year-old Matthew Anthony of New York City, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office responded around 3 p.m. Wednesday to reports that three people had disappeared underwater at Heath Falls in Soda Springs, but that evening authorities made contact with three hikers and learned that, in fact, six men had been hiking when three entered the water at Rattlesnake Falls and did not resurface.

The three remaining hikers were evacuated via California Highway Patrol helicopter “due to the area’s challenging terrain, located several miles in on a steep and difficult hiking trail,” the sheriff’s office said in a social media update.

The search for the missing hikers was suspended Thursday afternoon due to limited underwater visibility caused by debris and strong currents as well as increasing winds that created unsafe flying conditions, according to police. It resumed Friday in a limited capacity with plans to bring in enhanced equipment and mutual aid partners when conditions improved, which was expected to happen by Sunday, police said.