The Hood River County Sheriff's Office identified the man who died Sunday after jumping off
in the Columbia River Gorge as a 25-year-old man from Cincinnati, Ohio.
Jason Endicott was among a group of five people from out of state who hiked up the Eagle Creek Trail to the top of the falls on Sunday. Four of them jumped around 5 p.m., said Matt English, Hood River County sheriff. One man was treated at the scene for hypothermia and had to be carried out. The other two walked out on their own. None was taken to a hospital, English said. The three who survived the jump were not identified.
Members of the Crag Rats and Multnomah County Rural Fire District 14 searched for Endicott's body but never found it. The search was suspended at 9 p.m. because of darkness.
English said Endicott's body was recovered at around 2 p.m. Monday at the bottom of the bowl in about 12 feet of water.
That was the second operation at Punchbowl Falls over the weekend. On Friday afternoon, a search and rescue team saved another man who jumped off the falls, English said. He was rescued and taken to an area hospital with back and neck injuries. English did not have his identity.
On Monday at 9 a.m., a dive team from the
and members of the
,
and the
resumed recovery efforts for Endicott's remains in difficult conditions. They have to hike two and a half miles up the trail with their gear then navigate the rough water at the base of the falls.
"It could be a complicated and dangerous recovery," English said. "It's really close to the falls. They're going to be dealing with a lot of undertow."
He said people jump off the falls all the time when the weather warms. The water looks inviting after a sweaty hike, but jumping is risky, English said, with the threat of currents and thick sediment making the water shallower that it appears.
"We always advise people not to jump off those falls," English said.
-- Lynne Terry