Man drowns at Boulder Beach

A man was pulled from the bottom of the Spokane River at the popular Boulder Beach swim area early Friday afternoon by members of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office dive team. “He was apparently swimming on the north side, went under and didn’t come back up,” said Spokane County Fire District 9 Assistant Chief Jim Walkowski. “We don’t know why he didn’t resurface.” The man’s family realized that he was missing and called 911 when they couldn’t find him. Water rescue teams from Spokane Fire and Spokane Valley Fire could not find him from the surface so divers were called in. He was located near the bottom in about 20 feet of water. Spokane County Sheriff’s Office officials said Friday evening that the 19-year-old man had died. Last week 16-year-old Donovan Groom drowned just downstream from Boulder Beach after his foot got stuck between two rocks beneath the water.