Text of 06/03/2005 Del Norte County Sheriff Department report Timothy Wiley 4P8. (This report contains no mention of Susan Botts’s statement to him about James Steele’s contribution to the drowning or of Daniel’s statements about that to Ranger Paul Tibbets.)

INCIDENT NARRATIVE:

On 6/3105 at about 1748 hours, I was off duty at my residence when I heard an

emergency tone on my fire pager that indicated a young male swimmer was missing at

Craig’s Beach on the Smith River. I then responded to that location with my rescue diver

equipment. Before my arrival, I heard radio traffic that the swimmer had been located and

pulled from the water. The radio traffic also stated that CPR was in progress. Upon my

arrival, I found the decedent about fifty yards down river from the beach access point

being attended to by a paramedic from Del Norte Ambulance and several other

emergency agencies. I then assisted with the CPR process until we were able to carry the

decedent up the hillside. During that time I saw no signs of life from the decedent. I also

quickly inspected the decedent body for any signs of blunt force trauma. I did not see

any signs of visible trauma to the decedent.

I then spoke to the mother of the decedent, Susan Botts, on scene and she

identified the decedent as David Dagon Botts. While on scene she described the incident.

She said that Dagon was in the South Fork of the Smith River at the Craig’s Beach river

access. Dagon then entered a series of rapids. At the exit of the rapids, Dagon went into

the upstream flow (Eddy). The eddy current then pushed Dagon into an eddy fence. An

eddy fence is where two contradicting currents meet and water is pushed together. Once

Dagon was in the eddy fence, he tried to swim down stream into the eddy current. In

doing so he was unable to swim faster than the current, and became stuck in the fence.

At this point Susan, who is a swift water rescue technician, began to tell Dagon how to

rescue him self. Dagon had become panicked at that point and he did not follow his

mother’s commands. Susan, her husband Daniel Simmons and a friend James Steele then jumped into the water to attempt a contact rescue. Although their attempts were

unsuccessful and Dagon became exhausted and was lost from their sight. After Susan,

Daniel and James were out of the water; a bystander drove towards Fliouchi to contact

emergency personnel. Ranger Paul Tibbets, National Park Ranger and Swift Water

Rescue Technician, was first on scene. Officer Tibbets went into the water with his

personal protective equipment and was able to find Dagon and remove him from the

water. Officer Tibbets then started CPR.

Death Appears: Accidental Drowning