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Crew Recovers Body From Boulder Creek, Expected To Be Missing Fisherman

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - Authorities in Boulder County say a search dog team located a body in Boulder Creek after a fisherman went missing on Sunday and the body has been recovered.

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A dog searching Boulder Creek (credit: CBS)

The body was found in the creek Monday afternoon in Boulder Canyon. A recovery team worked to retrieve the body in the creek, which is running very high. Authorities are now working to confirm the identity of the fisherman but they believe the body is that of a Denver man who went missing.

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.

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A crew recovering the body from Boulder Creek (credit: CBS)

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.

BOULDER CANYON FISHERMAN map
(credit: CBS)

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. The water was running so fast on Monday the divers didn't go in the creek.

Search
(credit: CBS)

On Monday authorities sent a team of kayakers down the creek in hopes of finding something, and had K-9 units along the creek trying to find the scent of the body, which proved successful in the afternoon.

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

"The water is very unpredictable, very dangerous; and even people who are experienced are getting into trouble today," Cmdr. Heidi Prentup with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office said. "Our suggestion is to stay out of the water until it goes down a little bit. I know that everybody sees it, the rafters are out, they want to get into the water. It's just very dangerous."

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.

Chris Danko
Chris Danko (credit: CBS)

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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