People cool off in the Willamette River at Wallace Marine Park on Saturday, June 26, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Local search crews are looking for two swimmers that went missing over the unusually hot weekend.
Marine patrol deputies from the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched on Saturday at around 7 p.m. in response to a report of a missing swimmer on the Willamette River near the Wheatland Ferry.
According to a press release, deputies learned that the swimmer was last seen struggling in the water off of the Marion County river bank. The missing swimmer was identified by relatives as Nasiruddin Shaik, 37, of Salem.
Law enforcement, fire and rescue personnel, as well as volunteers, searched the waterway and riverbank using multiple boats and a helicopter. The search was suspended at about 10 p.m. until the following morning, according to the sheriff’s office.
While out searching that evening, Yamhill County Deputy Robert VandeBergh and Marine Safety Officer Jose Dominguez heard a woman screaming for help near the confluence of the Willamette and Yamhill Rivers. They located a woman struggling in the water and gave her a flotation device and brought her on board their patrol board. The woman told them that her boyfriend — Thomas Paul Stavrum, 51, of Lafayette — had jumped from their boat to go swimming and was still missing.
Deputies continued to look for Stavrum until just after midnight. They continued the search again on Sunday and Monday morning but were unsuccessful, according to a press release.
Capt. Chris Ray, of the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office, said in an email the marine patrol and Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue will continue to search in the areas in hopes of locating the missing swimmers.
“Unfortunately, this is now a recovery operation,” he said.
With more hot weather in the forecast, the sheriff’s office is urging swimmers to use flotation devices.
-Jake Thomas
