WILTON, Conn. A body found Saturday morning is likely that of Stephen Forster, a 19-year-old from Wilton, the Valley County Sheriff's Office in Idaho says in an Associated Press report at the Courant.com.
Read the story here.
Forster went missing June 28 in rapids on the Payette River. Authorities say the body was found in Boise County by another kayaker about 7 miles downstream from where Forster disappeared.
Forster was the son of Robert and Andrea Forster, of 97 Carriage Road.
The Wilton teen was an "experienced and talented" kayaker who apparently got sucked into a "hydraulic hole and drowned," according to Office Operations Supervisor Lt. Dan Smith of the Cascade sheriff's office.
Brian Ward, 28, of Boise, Idaho, who was with Forster when he was swept away, said "right up until the last minute I saw him ... he was smiling, laughing and whooping it up." But Ward said there was "nothing anyone could have done" to prevent the tragedy.
"He was as skilled a paddler as anyone I've seen," said Ward. "He definitely had the talent, skills and experience to be out there. But with the flow and force of a hydraulic system it becomes the swim of your life ... and sometimes you don't make it."
Did you know Stephen Forster? Tell us about him in a comment below.
Click here to follow Daily Voice and receive free news updates.
