Emmett, Idaho – After a week of searching, the Gem County Sheriff’s Office announced that they found the body of 21-year-old Everette Jackson on Sunday.
Jackson, a student athlete attending Louisiana State University Eunice, was visiting Idaho with his girlfriend at the time.
According to family members, on June 11 Jackson and his girlfriend missed their exit while tubing on the Payette River in Emmett, Idaho. They tried to paddle back to a dock but fell from the tube. She was able to cling to a branch, but Jackson was reportedly pulled away in the current.
According to a press release from the Gem County Sheriff’s Office, volunteers and rescuers combed the area searching for Jackson for eight days before his body was found two miles downstream from the area he was last seen.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family during this very difficult time,” Sheriff Wunder said. “We are grateful to all of the emergency responders and volunteers who made this recovery possible.”
The Gem County Sheriff’s Office warned people of particularly dangerous conditions on the river and advised anyone floating to wear a life jacket. “The Payette River is currently flowing at a rate that presents a danger to anyone not using a motorized craft,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Monday news release. “Rapid flows, high-water levels, and frigid water temperatures currently present life-threatening conditions.”
