On Christmas Eve, 39-year-old tour guide, Julio Escobar, was in the Caves Branch River, taking tourists on one of the tours offered by Ian Anderson Caves Branch Jungle Lodge, where he worked for the past two decades. He had been planning to go back to his home in Armenia and eat Christmas dinner with his family after work. But Escobar never made it there.
That's because he drowned during a flash flood. When the river started to rise, Escobar volunteered to find a safe spot for the tourists and the other guides to cross. It was while crossing that something went wrong, sending Escobar into the clutches of the rushing current.
Today, the police told us what they know so far:
ASP Fitzroy Yearwood, Communications Officer
"About 11:30 am, Julio Escobar and two other tour guides and some guests were in that area somewhere upstream in the river that began to rise rapidly. The tour guides attempted to move towards a more shallow area that they believed they could have crossed the river, but Escobar disappeared and he was flung from his tube where he disappeared in the water. I know that they contracted ASTRUM Helicopter services where sometime around 8:00 pm the pilot of that helicopter and the search party believe they saw a body in the river not too far from the area where Mr Escobar disappeared. They managed to retrieve him from the river and he was transported to the Western Regional hospital where he was pronounced dead by a medical officer around 9:30 pm."
And Caves Branch wasn't the only river to flood - the guides who were in the Roaring Creek river that same day said that while they didn't know Escobar personally, they're sympathetic towards their fellow tour guide.
Oscar Carbajal, Tour Guide
"Unfortunately, I think that river is a little more tricky than this one, but we have the rope that helps us. Condolences to the family, but it's an unfortunate incident. I think he was a good guide; I think he was really prepared, but you never know when something can happen anywhere any minute to anybody."
Fransisco Raymundo, Tour Guide
"Unfortunately, we heard the incident that occurred and yes as guides we were saddened at the moment. I wish, as a person who deals a lot with water to be in all places where possible needed, but unfortunately we just couldn't be everywhere."
While Escobar's family and his employer chose not to speak on camera, they told us that he had always loved his job, and enjoyed joking around with the guests. They also said that everything he did was for his wife, his son, and his daughter.
