18 year old George Ho went under the water and never surfaced at Tiscornia Beach in Discovery Park Sunday afternoon at the confluence.

Jim Doucette of the Sacramento Fire Department,stated "at 2:54 PM, we responded to the beach at Discovery Park for an 18 year old male that went under and never surfaced."

"Ho and his friends were swimming about 25 yards off shore. Some boats came by, created a wake, he went under and never came up" said Doucette.

This occurred right where the Sacramento River and American River meet, the area known as The Confluence. Doucette stated that it is very deep there with a lot of logs and rocks. He further stated that in the past an abandon car had been found there.

After about an hour of surface searching, the fire department pulled their swimmers out of the water and went into a recovery mode, per Doucette.

Doucette noted that even as the recovery of Ho was taking place, there were many children in the water without life vests. "It's kind of ironic; you see what just happened here and people are still in the water. The big deal is, they just don't think it could happen to them."

The young man was identified as George Ho of Elk Grove. Per Doucette, Ho had just graduated from Monterey Trails High School in Elk Grove.

Doucette spoke with Ho's friends who were at Discovery with him. They stated that Ho did know how to swim and Doucette believed that alcohol was not a factor in this incident.

With Ho's father, family and friends looking on, a few hours later, the dive team was still unable to locate him and called off the recovery efforts.

Capt Doucette states, "This is a sad reminder of just how dangerous our rivers and waterways are. The victim’s friends reported that he knew how to swim. These waters do not discriminate against anyone, whether they are good swimmers or not. These waters will 'kill' you."

The Sacramento Fire Department also received assistance from the Sacramento Police Department, Sacramento County Park Rangers, the California Highway Patrol, the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department, and the Yolo County Sheriffs Department.