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Officials are continuing to investigate the incident, in which the woman and four other people died in an Ohio river on July 19
NEED TO KNOW
- Five people died after attempting to rescue a swimmer in Ohio’s Scioto River during a July 19 outing
- Juan Antonio Herrera said that he spoke with his daughter, Carmen, reported to be one of the victims, the day before the tragedy
- A Honduran official said that the repatriation of the victims’ bodies will begin once identifications are made
A father whose daughter was one of five adult victims who drowned in an Ohio river last weekend recalled speaking with her just one day before the tragic incident.
Juan Antonio Herrera told the Honduran outlet Tiempo that he chatted with his daughter, Carmen, on Saturday, July 18, not realizing that it would be the last time he would hear her voice.
Honduran officials identified Carmen and Miguel Angel Guerra as two of the victims who died, ABC affiliate WSYX reported.
Authorities also said Jose Mario Pineda Dias, 33, and his wife, 28-year-old Marina Suyapa Regalado — also of Honduras — drowned, The Associated Press and USA Today reported. The name of the fifth victim has not been publicly released.
Honduran officials confirmed on Tuesday that four of the five adults were citizens of Honduras, AP reported.
The group, made up of the five adults and two underage children, was reportedly together near the Scioto River in the Columbus suburb of Powell on the evening of Sunday, July 19, when the tragedy unfolded.
At a press conference the following day, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that they were alerted of the incident at around 9 p.m. local time after a driver spotted a “clearly distraught” child searching for help on the road.
“My understanding is that a group of people came to the river sometime last evening to enjoy themselves on a summer night, including some fishing. We believe one of the folks got in the river to go swimming, and that’s when the tragedy started to occur,” Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer said.
Authorities believe that the swimmer began to struggle, which led the group to rush in to help before soon experiencing problems themselves.
When the child managed to flag down a passerby for help, he told them that his family was “in the river,” sparking a search for the missing individuals.
Two of the adult women’s bodies were pulled from the Scioto River on Sunday evening, and they were pronounced dead at local hospitals. The three men’s bodies were found on Monday, July 20.
In his interview with Tiempo, Herrera said he tried to call his daughter on Sunday when he went to church but wasn’t able to. He added that when he did call at 7 p.m., she didn’t pick up the phone.
It wasn’t until Monday morning that Herrera’s family received the news about Carmen from another daughter in the U.S.
Carmen was living in the U.S. for four years and recently celebrated her birthday on July 15, Tiempo reported.
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Balzer said that the sheriff’s office is continuing to investigate the incident.
Speaking with media on Tuesday, Flabia Zamora, director of consular affairs at the Honduran Foreign Ministry, said that once the identification of all victims has been performed, Honduras would start the process of repatriating the bodies, AP reported.
Meanwhile, the two children, who are 6 and 7, were placed in the care of family services as efforts are being made to reunite them with relatives, according to The New York Times.
When contacted by PEOPLE, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office said they had no new information to share. The Honduras Embassy in the U.S. did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Additional reporting by Michael Nied and Angel Saunders.
Read the original article on People
