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COLUMBUS – A call from a concerned resident about an abandoned canoe sparked a multi-day investigation that resulted in the discovery of a deceased man in the Colorado River near Beason’s Park.
Daniel Joseph Baca, 63, was last seen in the early evening on May 2 according to police. The Sheriff’s Office received a call on Friday, May 3 from a resident inquiring about a canoe abandoned in the river and stuck in debris under the railroad bridge near Beason’s Park.
A combined force of the Sheriff’s Office, Columbus Volunteer Fire Department and Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens converged on the site to investigate the incident.
According to police, the resident who called in the incident stayed and provided the information that the canoe belonged to a frequent fisher from the area, Baca. The combined force used CVFD’s water rescue boat to search the river for the missing fisherman before finding some of his personal items on a sandbar.
The search continued May 4 as LCRA Rangers and the Office of Emergency Management added their efforts to investigation. The agencies joined together in boat searches and even utilized drones to search riverbanks to find the missing man.
Despite searching all day, the force could not locate the man before sundown, forcing the agencies to take a hiatus until the following morning.
On May 5, the force finally made a breakthrough after locating the body of a deceased male believed to be Baca at around 11:30 a.m. According to officials, the body was found not far from the personal belongings already attributed to Baca.
Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Donald J. Clark confirmed Baca’s death and ordered an autopsy to determine the cause of death. The family was notified by the Sheriff’s Office, who had been providing updates throughout
