Rescue Teams Find Body of Missing Green River Rafter

UPDATE: Rescue crews have located the body of the missing rafter, who was lost on the Green River rapids, between Kanaskat-Palmer State Park and the Flaming Geyser State Park near Black Diamond.

According to KING 5, the 50-yesr-old man was rafting with a group, including his wife, in the area when they lost control of their raft. When the boat overturned, his life jacket came off. King County Sheriff marine boats, the Black Diamond Fire Department and others are also responding.

It’s an area in the Upper Gorge known as the Nozzle Rapid, said Renton Battalion Chief Stan Engler.

It’s an area the water rescue team knows well.

“We’ve been training there for the past two weeks,” said Engle.

Renton resident Andre Koch tweeted:"@RentonPatch King County Swift Water Rescue on the river Maple Valley Hwy" around 4 p.m. Saturday. Patch contacted Koch, who said that he saw police activity along the Cedar River, between SR 405 and Exit 4 to Maple Valley Highway.

We asked Engler, who said that while en-route to the incident along the Green River, two kayakers who tipped over on the Cedar River mistook the rescue boat to be for them. They flagged down units while walking on the road near the beginning of Maple Valley Highway, just before 196th St.

Koch noted that this as a dangerous time of year to boat on the area’s local rivers.

“The river is pretty full and moving really fast, it’s not wise to go down the river, especially with the snow melting right now.”