Watch CBS News

Tuber Missing On Boulder Creek Was On Pain Medication, Possibly Using Marijuana

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - The search continued on Tuesday for a man who vanished while tubing in Boulder Creek.

Rescue teams were in the water all day looking for Chris Danko, 35, who decided to go tubing in the creek Monday night. He was last seen near Arapahoe Avenue and Foothills Parkway in Boulder.

Chris Danko
Chris Danko (credit: CBS)

Danko's sister told CBS4's Shaun Boyd the family is praying that Danko somehow got out of the creek and is maybe disoriented. His mother said he was on pain medication because of a back injury and may have also been using marijuana.

Danko was apparently partying with a friend when he decided to go tubing. The friend said he followed Danko on a skateboard when the tuber got into trouble when he went under a bridge and his friend lost sight of him.

Chris Danko missing tuber boulder creek
Dive teams searching Boulder Creek (credit: CBS)

In 40 degree water running about 7 miles per hour dive teams meticulously moved down Boulder Creek on Tuesday prodding the water with 10-foot poles looking for any sign on Danko.

"It's very physically demanding to put swimmers out in the water and search these shorelines, especially in these remote areas where there's not a creek path or easy access to the water," Joe Gross with Boulder Swift Water Rescue said.

MISSING TUBER MAP.transfer
(credit: CBS)

Swift Water Rescue was one of four dive teams with a total of 32 divers involved in the search. They fanned out over a 2-mile stretch of the creek. With the recent rains there are some areas they simply can't get to, according to Gross.

"The river is running very fast right now, it can be as deep as 10 feet," Gross said. "There are areas that we can't reach with our 10-foot search poles."

Search
(credit: CBS)

The divers have been searching since 8:30 p.m. Monday with few breaks and fatigue has been setting in.

"Getting beat up by the waters, trying to walk the shoreline that's so obstructed with overgrowth," Gross said. "You're dealing with heat, bugs."

They also know that time isn't on their side. As they search the water Boulder police hold out hope Danko was able to get out.

"We hope that he got out of the water on his own last night and we simply just don't know where he is," Kim Kobel with Boulder police said. "Maybe he went somewhere and we're hoping to find him alive. We are doing a rescue operation, it is a potential recovery operation as well because we don't know what his status is right now."

Boulder Creek is flowing at about 438 cubic feet per second, according to Dan Barber, deputy director of Boulder Office of Emergency Management. Tubing on the creek is usually banned when the flow starts to reach to 700 cfs or above.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.