17-year-old Victim Recovered from Vineyard Lake
JEROME, Idaho (KLIX)-Jerome County authorities recovered a 17-year-old drowning victim at a popular swimming hole Tuesday evening. According to the Jerome County Sheriff's Office Captain Gary Taylor, Jerome County Search and Rescue with help from The Twin Falls Sheriff's Office responded to the call at Vineyard Lake just north of the Snake River Canyon at around 6:19 p.m.
First responders learned that the teen male had been jumping from rocks above the lake and didn't resurface. Witnesses said the teen jump off from the east side of the lake and looked as if he had injured himself just before going under water. Witnesses attempted to search for the teen under water, but couldn't find him, according to the sheriff's office.
The Twin Falls County Search and Rescue Dive Team went into the water at around 8:22 p.m. and found the victim about 30 minutes later. Because the victim was under the age of 18 the Jerome County Sheriff's Office did not identify him. However, in a later statement by the Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office, Andre Golay was identified as the victim, "We wish to express our most sincere condolences to the Golay family during this difficult time. We also want to express our sincere thanks to our expert and qualified search and rescue team who regularly respond to these types of calls and put their training to the test in these difficult situations. Our search and rescue team is comprised of a group of volunteers from the community who respond at a moments notice to assist the Sheriff's Office during rescue and recovery calls. We couldn't do this job without them!"
A GoFundMe account has been set up for the teen who was a senior at Twin Falls High School.
First Segregation Fire Department, Magic Valley Paramedics and SORT Team, air St. Luke's, and the Rock Creek Quick Response Unit also assisted with the call.