LIVERMORE — Alameda County sheriff’s deputies are using drones and dogs in their search for a 71-year-old Tracy fisherman believed to have fallen into the Delta-Mendota Canal sometime Monday, authorities said Tuesday.
The man’s name has not been released.
Deputies have been at the canal since before sunrise Tuesday, sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly said, but because of the swift current have not been able to put divers into the water.
Kelly said the man’s cap was found floating in the canal about three miles downstream from where it is believed he slipped or fell in. His tackle box was also found, he said.
Kelly said deputies were told the man regularly fishes at the canal and returns home by 10 p.m..
But when he did not return home Monday night his family went to the canal early Tuesday and found his car in a parking lot but no sign of him.
Deputies believe he somehow fell into the canal and possibly drowned.
Deputies are searching a several mile area.
The California Highway Patrol and the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department are assisting the sheriff’s office.
The 117-mile canal delivers water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the San Joaquin Valley. It begins near Tracy and ends at Mendota Pool which is the confluence of the San Joaquin River and Kings River in the central valley.
Check back for updates.