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Fast-Moving Water Hinders Search For Body In Boulder Creek

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - Authorities in Boulder County say Boulder Creek is running too quickly Monday to risk having divers go into the creek to look for the body of a missing fisherman.

On Sunday a man who is not being identified didn't return home after going fishing in Boulder Canyon. His car was found in the area of Sugarloaf Road and Highway 119. The Boulder County Sheriff's office said they are working with Denver police on the case.

During the day on Sunday authorities got what they say were two independent reports of a man floating in the water who was in his mid-30s wearing fishing gear and hip waders. That report came north of the city of Boulder in the Dome Rock area.

The body was spotted going under a bridge, but when the witnesses ran to the other side of the bridge they didn't see it anymore.

Diving crews then spent many hours trying to find the body but were unsuccessful and had to call off their search when it got dark.

Search
(credit: CBS)

On Monday morning authorities said that unless they get another report of someone spotting a body in the creek, they will not be sending divers into the water to continue the search. Instead, they will be sending a team of kayakers down the creek in hopes of finding something, and will have K-9 units along the creek trying to find the scent of the body.

Search missing fisherman boulder creek
K-9 search crews on Monday next to Boulder Creek (credit: CBS)

Boulder Creek is currently running at between 560 and 580 cubic feet per second.

"This is too fast for divers to be in the water with limited information as to where the person may be located," the sheriff's office said in a news release.

Boulder Fire Department Deputy Chief Jeff Long said Sunday there are several different things that could have happened to explain why the people who spotted the body didn't see it again after the initial sighting.

"There's hydraulics in the creeks. It could get wrapped up in the hydraulics. It could become entangled in branches or snags or that kind of stuff along the creek," Long told CBS4.

Tubing on the creek is usually banned when the flow starts to reach to 700 cfs or above. Authorities said they expect the flow to increase over the next few days and expect a tubing ban to go into effect.

Boulder County officials said their kayaker crews are also still trying to locate the body of Chris Danko, a 35-year-old who went missing while tubing on the creek a month ago.

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