River Canyon National Preserve drowning victim identified

Sunday, June 16, 2013

The man who drowned Saturday evening at Little River Canyon National Preserve in North Alabama has been identified as Ricardo Perez, 19, of Rome, Ga.

Park Ranger Larry Beane said in a news release that Perez and his friends set out to swim Little River at Martha's Falls, but Perez went under the water and didn't come up.

The friends called rescue crews, who found Perez's body in nine feet of water just before 9 p.m.

In the release, park superintendent Gail Bishop said this is the first drowning accident in 2013 although there have been four rescues in the river corridor this year.