Originally Posted By spmx7777:

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2026/07/21/5-drowning-victims-recovered-scioto-river-delaware-county-ohio/90992272007/

Crews have recovered all five victims from the Scioto River from a July 19 fishing trip that turned into a mass drowning.

Crews pulled a third body, a male, from the Scioto River as of 1 p.m. July 20, and two more male bodies were found around an hour later.

The sheriff's office said it would identify the victims after their families are notified.

Two women were pronounced dead after they were pulled from the river the night of July 19, and the Delaware County Sheriff's Office said recovery efforts paused overnight and resumed at 9 a.m. The other three victims were recovered July 20.

Distraught child alerted motorist to family in river

A driver called 911 just after 9 p.m. July 19 after seeing a distraught young child running alongside State Route 257, according to a Delaware County Sheriff's Office news release. The child told the driver his family was in the river.

Two women were recovered, and medics transported them to local hospitals, where they were pronounced dead, according to the news release.

Delaware County Sheriff Jeff Balzer said a group of people were at the river “to enjoy themselves on a summer evening," including doing some fishing. One person got into the water but began to struggle, he said.

More people entered the water to rescue the first person, Balzer said. In the end, five adults went into the water – all drowned.

A recovery search continued the afternoon of July 20 for three men who officials believe were in the water in a fishing area near Riverside Drive.

The group at the river may have consisted of two sets of parents, two children and another person, Balzer added.

The children who were on shore were under 10, and a language barrier made it difficult for authorities to get information from most of them, Balzer said. The two young children who were at the scene are in the care of Delaware County Job and Family Services.

Scioto River search involved many agencies

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources launched a boat on the water searching for the remaining missing adults, Balzer said July 20. The night before, several agencies aided the search. Officials also used drones and a Columbus police helicopter.

A large number of law enforcement and fire agencies have assisted with the search, including Concord, Liberty, Berlin, Jerome, Scioto and Washington township fire departments; Delaware, Sunbury, Powell, Columbus and Shawnee Hills police departments; and Delaware County EMS and Emergency Management Agency.

Balzer urged people spending time near bodies of water this summer to wear life vests if they are not confident in their swimming skills.

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Wow.  Just wow.  At least the kids were smart enough to not go in too.  Learn how to swim!

Originally Posted By SGT-Fish:
Wow. Thats crazy! I head there were a couple drowning victims and figured maybe they got caught in a flood or tried "swimming" in too rapid of currents.  The language barrier problem is interesting too. The fact they were getting on a boat, didnt know how to swim, and jumped in after someone without taking a life jacket, is wild.

I can swim(far from great at it) and i dont like being on a boat without a life jacket for the first few minutes.

I can only assume that one fell in and got swept away in the high current, then the others did the same going after her.

Originally Posted By spmx7777:


It's not 100% clear right now.  I haven't seen anything saying they were on the boat, they could've just been fishing from the shore so didn't have PFDs with them.  If they were in a boat then why were two young kids on the shore instead of in the boat?  One woman decided to go for a swim to cool off, got into trouble, then four people followed, they all ended up dead.  If you don't know how to swim stay away from the damn river.  It's not like a swimming pool with lifeguards who can save you if you get into trouble.  I know I'm preaching the choir here.  I'm guessing the language barrier is because the kids primarily spoke another language at home.

A photo snapped by a passing boater sometime Sunday apparently shows them about thigh deep in the Scioto River, fishing poles in hand, standing around a big log. Calm as the surface appeared, the river was running high and fast, according to U.S. Geological Survey data. All five adults ended up drowning, authorities have said.