The Linn County Sheriff’s Office reported last week that a teenager who disappeared in the North Santiam River on Oct. 7 has been found.
According to Sheriff Michelle Duncan, LCSO received a call on the afternoon of Oct. 24 from a
fisherman along the North Santiam River in Mill City.
The fisherman reported that his line snagged on something in the water, and when he reeled it in, he believed it was a body. A Mill City deputy arrived within minutes and confirmed the findings.
Members of the Linn County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team and Search and Rescue responded and recovered the body from the river.
Deputies continued to follow up with the investigation and learned last week from the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office that the individual was positively identified as Karandeep Singh, who had been missing since Oct. 7. The medical examiner’s office also determined the death was caused by an accidental drowning.
Deputies have been in contact with the Consulate General of India, who have assisted in coordinating with Singh’s family abroad to ensure they are updated on all developments.
Singh was last seen at around 10 p.m. walking with several friends near the North Santiam River. He had been drinking and said he was going to get into the river.
Singh did not know how to swim but had been in the shallow waters of the river before. His friends tried to stop him, but he jumped in the river in an area that was much deeper than where he had been previously.
Two of his friends entered the river and tried to save him but were unsuccessful and lost sight of him. It was not until the next morning, Oct. 8, that his friends reported the incident to a third person, and it was eventually reported to law enforcement. Part of the delay was due to a language barrier.
Recovery efforts for Singh began the morning of October 9th, when the Water Rescue Team divers began their search of the river where the male was believed to have entered. The team was unable to get a traditional boat to this area, so three divers on a rescue watercraft searched the area, first with an underwater camera.
Divers then dove areas they could not get to with the camera. They searched under and around large boulders where the body could have been stuck. The waters in this particular area are running very fast with a large amount of underwater debris and entanglement hazards, so the divers had to use extreme caution while conducting the search.
Before and during the search of the area with divers, multiple deputies from Linn and Marion County searched a larger area of the river with drones.