19-year-old missing after jumping into American River last week

Searchers continued looking Monday for a 19-year-old man that went missing last week after jumping into the American River, officials said.

Raymond Cabalfin Jr. went to Lake Clementine Trail in Auburn on Thursday with friends. He tried to cool off shortly before noon by jumping off a rock into the river, about three-quarters of a mile upstream from a popular swimming hole known as Clark’s Pool.

Cabalfin was swept away instantly, and by the time his friends called 911 and ran further downstream to intercept him, he was no longer in sight, Cabalfin’s family said. Park rangers at Auburn State Recreation Area responded immediately and searched the area for seven hours but were unable to locate Cabalfin.

Park rangers at the Auburn State Recreation Area are working closely with Placer County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol in the search. State Parks has ruled Cabalfin’s disappearance as a drowning and is no longer coordinating an active search effort.

“It’s not likely that he is alive,” said Auburn State Recreation Area Superintendent Mike Howard. “We had enough number of people search the area, and if he was alive, we would have found him.”

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