Search effort fails; Vallejo native presumed drowned in Old Sacramento
By J.M. BROWN, Times-Herald staff writer
A Vallejo native who used to be an announcer for local sporting events was presumed drowned Sunday after an extensive search failed to locate his body in the waters off Old Sacramento.
Fred Walton, 36, fell off a dock into the Sacramento River on Friday night as he was boarding a party boat, Melanie Plummer, a Sacramento police dispatcher, said Sunday. The dispatcher was uncertain about the boat's name, but media reports identified it as the Matthew McKinley.
Authorities searched the waters for several hours after the incident and for five or six hours Saturday, she said. After divers assisted by boat and helicopter teams failed to find the body, the search was called off later Saturday.
"The only thing we can presume is that, unfortunately, he drifted down," Plummer said. "Hopefully, the currents will stop and be able to produce the body."
Relatives and friends gathered at the site immediately after the accident and remained there for nearly 24 hours to monitor rescue attempts, the victim's sister, Iris Walton, said Sunday. The family left at about 11 p.m. Saturday and waited Sunday without word on the body.
"Everybody's just shocked right now," the sister said. "I've gone two days with no sleep."
The sister denied TV news reports that quoted witnesses as saying Walton might have been drinking alcohol before he fell in the water. "He was not drunk, he was not," the sister said, adding that she talked to him on the phone about 45 minutes before the tragedy.
Rather, Walton's blindness in one eye, his inability to swim and a rush to board the oversold cruise likely contributed to the fall from the crowded dock, she said.
Walton was told by a friend already on the boat that, because he had a ticket, he needed to board quickly by going to the front of the line, the sister said. There was no guardrail in place, only a thin chain, on the part of the dock where Walton walked, she said.
"He stepped and he was gone," she said. "He went in so quietly."
Two of Walton's friends dove in after Walton, who could not swim, the sister said, but they couldn't find him.
Walton, known as "No-No" to family and friends, moved to Sacramento three years ago. He had attended Vallejo High School, where he later announced sporting events, the sister said. She said she never realized how many friends her brother had until several came to Sacramento on Saturday to lend support.
Walton was an Army veteran of the Gulf War, she said. He was not married and had no children. He was preceded in death by his mother, Pearl Walton, of Vallejo. He is survived by his father, Waverly Walton, and six brothers and sisters, most of whom live in Vallejo.
The family is planning a candlelight vigil in Walton's memory next week. It will take place at the site of the accident, the sister said.
*I have always talked about how dangerous I think these 'Boat Cruises' are, but never thought about it in this way before. Everyone, please be careful when attending this sort of event, and please, PLEASE.....Teach your children how to swim!!!
RIP Uncle NoNo...you touched so many lives, and will never be forgotten.........
By J.M. BROWN, Times-Herald staff writer
A Vallejo native who used to be an announcer for local sporting events was presumed drowned Sunday after an extensive search failed to locate his body in the waters off Old Sacramento.
Fred Walton, 36, fell off a dock into the Sacramento River on Friday night as he was boarding a party boat, Melanie Plummer, a Sacramento police dispatcher, said Sunday. The dispatcher was uncertain about the boat's name, but media reports identified it as the Matthew McKinley.
Authorities searched the waters for several hours after the incident and for five or six hours Saturday, she said. After divers assisted by boat and helicopter teams failed to find the body, the search was called off later Saturday.
"The only thing we can presume is that, unfortunately, he drifted down," Plummer said. "Hopefully, the currents will stop and be able to produce the body."
Relatives and friends gathered at the site immediately after the accident and remained there for nearly 24 hours to monitor rescue attempts, the victim's sister, Iris Walton, said Sunday. The family left at about 11 p.m. Saturday and waited Sunday without word on the body.
"Everybody's just shocked right now," the sister said. "I've gone two days with no sleep."
The sister denied TV news reports that quoted witnesses as saying Walton might have been drinking alcohol before he fell in the water. "He was not drunk, he was not," the sister said, adding that she talked to him on the phone about 45 minutes before the tragedy.
Rather, Walton's blindness in one eye, his inability to swim and a rush to board the oversold cruise likely contributed to the fall from the crowded dock, she said.
Walton was told by a friend already on the boat that, because he had a ticket, he needed to board quickly by going to the front of the line, the sister said. There was no guardrail in place, only a thin chain, on the part of the dock where Walton walked, she said.
"He stepped and he was gone," she said. "He went in so quietly."
Two of Walton's friends dove in after Walton, who could not swim, the sister said, but they couldn't find him.
Walton, known as "No-No" to family and friends, moved to Sacramento three years ago. He had attended Vallejo High School, where he later announced sporting events, the sister said. She said she never realized how many friends her brother had until several came to Sacramento on Saturday to lend support.
Walton was an Army veteran of the Gulf War, she said. He was not married and had no children. He was preceded in death by his mother, Pearl Walton, of Vallejo. He is survived by his father, Waverly Walton, and six brothers and sisters, most of whom live in Vallejo.
The family is planning a candlelight vigil in Walton's memory next week. It will take place at the site of the accident, the sister said.
*I have always talked about how dangerous I think these 'Boat Cruises' are, but never thought about it in this way before. Everyone, please be careful when attending this sort of event, and please, PLEASE.....Teach your children how to swim!!!
RIP Uncle NoNo...you touched so many lives, and will never be forgotten.........
