Six deputies with the Ada County Sheriff’s Office dive team searched five miles of the Boise River Thursday in Star for missing 19-year-old swimmer Ezekiel Vargas but were not able to find any sign of him.
Ezekiel Vargas went missing while swimming with some friends in the Boise River June 5 near Star Road and Main Street. It appears he was swept up in the cold and fast moving water.
The ACSO dive team, additional deputies, family members, and volunteers did multiple and intensive searches along the river in Star for several day but were not able to find the teen.
Those searches involved foot searches on the banks and helicopter and drone searches from above.
Searching by boat at the time wasn’t possible because the Boise River was flowing too high, swift, and cold. We asked the Army Corps of Engineers to drop the river level on June 7, so our dive team was able to get into the water that day – but were unable to find any sign of Ezekiel Vargas.
The river level then went back up. We had deputies continue to do drone flights along the riverbanks for several days.
The river has recently dropped to safer levels (about 2700 cubic-feet-per-second) in that portion of the river, so our dive team did an intensive search earlier today – including searching by boat and with divers snorkeling in the river.
Deputies also searched sand bars, shallow areas, and the debris-covered banks of the river by foot – but did not find any sign of the missing teen.
Our deputies remain in contact with Canyon County Sheriff’s marine deputies, who keep a close eye on the Boise River downstream of Star.