Search Suspended For Man Who May Have Drowned
VANTAGE -- Late Sunday afternoon, dive teams here suspended their search for a 28-year-old man from Tacoma who never returned to the shore of the Columbia River on Saturday night.
Russell Fortman swam out into the river to get his boat, which drifted out into the water because of high winds. He was swimming about 150 feet off shore when his friends say they heard him scream and then he disappeared under the water.
Rescue teams from Kittitas and Grant Counties worked with Columbia Basin Dive Team throughout Saturday night and into Sunday to find Fortman. Late Sunday, he remained missing. His boat washed up on shore along a jetty without him inside.
Russell Fortman swam out into the river to get his boat, which drifted out into the water because of high winds. He was swimming about 150 feet off shore when his friends say they heard him scream and then he disappeared under the water.
Rescue teams from Kittitas and Grant Counties worked with Columbia Basin Dive Team throughout Saturday night and into Sunday to find Fortman. Late Sunday, he remained missing. His boat washed up on shore along a jetty without him inside.
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