Divers recover body of man from South Fork

The body of a Kalispell man, who was last seen after jumping into the South Fork of the Flathead River for a swim July 17, was recovered by an underwater diver Tuesday.

Gabriel Brown, 21, was found about a quarter-mile below Devil's Elbow shortly after 1 p.m., Flathead County Sheriff Jim Dupont said.

Sheriff's deputy and dive team commander Jordan White said Dennis Williams, a construction worker and diver with the team, found Brown's body in 15 to 20 feet of water in the stretch being searched below Hungry Horse Dam.

"Visibility was not very good," White said. Williams "just recognized something that didn't look like it belonged there. When he reached out he could feel it was Gabe."

White said divers had been searching areas below Devil's Elbow that had been too dangerous to enter earlier, before dam officials lowered water flows Tuesday. Divers worked their way downstream until entering an eddy where they had snorkeled before but hadn't been able to dive into and search.

It was there that Brown was found.

The family was notified immediately.

Brown had been fishing with others in that area a week ago Sunday when he decided to take a swim. He disappeared around a point of rocks and was not seen again. Searchers were called out later that evening.

The area is known for its huge boulders and deceptive water that can suck swimmers and boaters below the surface into a churning, boiling trough. Test parcels filled with potatoes, rocks and radio transmitters were pulled underwater 28 to 33 feet last Thursday, where they remained by sheer hydraulic force.

Recovery was possible through a cooperative nine-day effort among North Valley and Flathead County search and rescue outfits, the sheriff's office, dive team, search dogs, ALERT helicopter and Hungry Horse Dam officials.

The dam lowered and raised the water flow in attempts to dislodge the body from deep pools in the river.

White said water flow from the dam had been lowered from 7,200 cubic feet per second to 3,000 cfs Monday night, a move made possible when cooler weather decreased electricity demand downstream. When divers subsequently entered the water Tuesday, they found Brown's body.

White said stream flow had been between 4,000 and 5,000 cfs when Brown disappeared.

"Recovering a body underwater is a very intimate encounter with death," White said.

"There's no time to adjust. It goes from searching to immediately finding it. It's a huge relief because you have found what you're looking for, but there's the emotional aspect of recovering a body for the family," made especially difficult in this case because the victim was so young, he said.

At that point the physical demands of the diving itself transform into emotional stresses.

"The difficult part for divers begins after [the body is located], because they've got to deal with the emotional aspects of recovering the body that was entombed in the water."

Many divers simply do not want to talk about the experience for some time afterward, White said.

"There are very mixed emotions," he said. "It's a very powerful experience to be able to return that person to the family and let them have the relief they might never have had. But to be the one who does that is just overwhelming.

"You form almost a relationship with the family during the search.

Both White and Dupont expressed gratitude for the divers in the search.

"It's just very satisfying - it was long and tedious, but we are all glad that it is finished," White said. "The family can move on with their grieving process and have some closure from this."

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com.