033015 DROWNING RECOVERY

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The body of the man who fell from his horse and drowns in the San Jacinto River on Sunday was recovered just before 4pm Monday afternoon. Wade Willis, a cousin of Montgomery County Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace James Metts donated his time and airboat for the search. With the river being low and few access points it was difficult to get any other type of boat on the water. Between SH 242 where the airboat was launched and the Magnolia Bend Subdivision some five miles upstream the water goes from twenty feet to six inches in places.

After locating the spot where friends last saw the victim Willis and Judge Metts worked the airport covering almost every inch of water. Montgomery County Precinct 1 dive team was on the boat as was Vernon Miller with a side-scan sonar device for looking underwater. Mark Seals with Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constables Office and Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens also assisted.

Just before 4 pm, sonar picked up a deep hole approximately eight feet with something on the bottom. When a dragline was put down the object moved. that’s when they realized the object was in fact the victim. For most of the day, many other objects appeared but were later identified as tree stumps, limbs, or other debris.

The victim was removed by Caney Creek Firefighters with four-wheelers to the waiting body car from Eickenhorst Funeral Directors who were ordered by Judge Metts to transport the victim who was identified as Librado Rubio, 47, of Conroe, to the Montgomery County Forensic Center for autopsy.

Judge Mett’s warned of the dangers of the San Jacinto River. He spent two days last May searching for a teen who drowns in almost the same spot. Debris and tree limbs litter the bottom. The bottom can drop from inches to feet as you wade through it. Today the river was quite low with the San Jacinto River Authority releasing 350 cubic feet per second from the dam. Just last week that number was over 6500 cubic feet per second. Even today due to the current it was unsafe for a diver to even enter the water. The surface looks smooth as glass in places but under the surface heavy currents await. While dragging today cast nets were pulled from the bottom, cables, rebar,even and old car which has been down there many years.

NOTE: IN THE VIDEO YOU HAVE A GOOD IDEA WHAT THE SAN JACINTO RIVER LOOKS LIKE BETWEEN CONROE AND SH 242.