RIGGINS, Idaho — An Idaho man drowned in a kayaking accident on the Salmon River on Monday.
The Idaho County Sheriff's Office said James Grossman, 56, of Sun Valley, was killed in the accident in Fall Creek Rapid on the South Fork of the Salmon River.
The International Emergency Response Coordination Center alerted the Idaho County Sheriff's Department of the accident after it detected an emergency signal from a personal GPS satellite device.
Grossman was a legendary kayaker who will be greatly missed by family, friends and the paddling community.
The region isn't accessible by road, so authorities contacted Two Bear Air Rescue, a search and rescue agency based near Whitefish, Montana. The agency used a helicopter to recover Grossman's remains from the Frank Church Wilderness.
Also this week another experienced river runner Robert Gray of Washington state drowned on the Middle Fork of the Salmon, which is also in the Frank Church Wilderness.
Authorities have located Gray's body, but they can't get to him because he's stuck in a log jam and they have to wait for the river to drop before it's safe to recover him.
Robert's family has set up a go fund me page to raise money for helicopter flights to make sure Robert doesn't drift away, so far people have donated $28,789.
His family fears his body might not get found if he drifts out of the logjam, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of both of these men.
