MADERA COUNTY – A Search & Rescue mission turned into a recovery when the body of a California man swept over Camino Falls in the Sierra National Forest was discovered yesterday.
The victim has been identified as Daniel Stephen Greenlaw, 37, of Richmond, CA.
Greenlaw, camp host at the Farm Meadow Campground, reportedly took a group of six vacationers to the West Fork Chiquito Creek area for a swim.
While showing them how to slide down rocks to reach a swimming hole, he ended up further downstream than he intended. When he stood up, he lost his footing, falling back into the rushing water, and was swept over the 100-foot waterfall.
The search began at around 11:30 p.m., when the party of seven was reported missing.
Madera County Search & Rescue located the vehicle shortly after 3 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 11, and found the remaining party roughly an hour later.
Greenlaw’s body was discovered at the bottom of the waterfall shortly before 6:30 a.m. and rescuers used aerial support to retrieve him from the river.
The surviving hikers, a 56-year-old Illinois woman; three girls, ages, 19, 13 and 8; and a 44-year-old man and 43-year-old woman from England, say the accident happened sometime between 2 and 2:30 p.m on Saturday, but they found themselves lost in the wilderness, and were unable to locate their vehicle in order to find help.
Very sad, one of my favorite campsites. Every year my family camps at this site but the falls are quite slippery and treacherous.