Palouse-Snake River Drowning Victim Identified

The cause of death, according to the Franklin County Coroner, was drowning, and there not be an autopsy.

Monday, Franklin County Coroner Curtis McGary said the man who went missing had been identified as Rojelio Saldana, 21.  He and two other men were fishing Saturday in the Palouse River not far from where it merges with the Snake River.

Saturday evening around 6PM, during those big wind and electrical storms that swept through our region, it hit the men on their boat. The wind and waves capsized the small vessel. Two of the men were able to struggle to shore, but Saldana went under and did not resurface.

Columbia Basin Dive Rescue searched the area and his body was finally recovered downstream in the Snake River on Sunday.

According to reports, none of the three men were wearing life jackets.