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Members of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue team will resume search efforts for 19-year-old Fortuna resident Joseph Viveiros Dawson on Wednesday morning, nearly 10 days after he was swept away in the Trinity River, near Tish Tang Campground.
Joseph Viveiros Dawson.
Witnesses say Viveiros jumped into the fast-moving waters of the Trinity River just before 4 p.m. on Monday, April 22, in an attempt to rescue one of his friends from drowning. The teenage girl was able to make it to a rock across the river, according to a press release from the HCSO. A second person who had also jumped in to save her was struggling to hold onto a tree down the river.
A nearby fisherman saw what was going on and brought his boat over to rescue the two individuals. He took his boat down the river to look for Viveiros, but he was nowhere to be found.
“I got a call from Joseph’s girlfriend saying he was in the water. She said he went under and they didn’t see him again,” Daisy Viveiros, Joseph’s mother, told the Outpost in a recent phone interview. “He was there hanging out with three or four of his friends. They just went to chill by the river for the day – they weren’t going swimming or anything because the river is so fast right now. … I just keep searching and praying that we find him. I just want him to come back.”
HCSO and numerous other law enforcement agencies were dispatched to the scene and immediately began search and rescue efforts. A CHP helicopter was sent over to help in the search, but it was diverted to assist law enforcement in the burgeoning protest at Cal Poly Humboldt.
[CLARIFICATION: Cal Poly Humboldt spokesperson Aileen Yoo contacted the Outpost to note that the CHP “offered helicopter support to the university after the helicopter had completed its operation” on Monday evening.]
“[The] Cal Poly protest [was] taking away officers and resources we needed for the search and rescue,” Myriah Viveiros, Joseph’s aunt, told the Outpost. “Meanwhile, we’ve had family, friends, fishermen and communities from Hoopa to Klamath helping [in the] search.”
HCSO spokesperson Joshua McCall admitted that the protest had “impacted [the] availability of [HCSO] personnel to conduct” continued search efforts, but said HCSO and the Hoopa Tribal Police Department will resume search efforts on Wednesday morning.
Daisy and Myriah Viveiros both expressed their gratitude to community members – especially members of the Hoopa Valley, Karuk and Yurok tribes – who have helped assist in the search thus far.
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