Stockton diver finds bodies of 3 missing men in Placer County's perilous Rattlesnake Falls

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17 hours ago

Stockton diver Juan Heredia located the bodies of three men trapped beneath a perilous waterfall in Placer County. The bodies have been recovered, four days after they were last seen jumping into waters near Soda Springs, authorities said.
The search began on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 18, when a group of hikers reported three men from their original group of six had jumped into the water at Rattlesnake Falls and not resurfaced, according to the Placer County Sheriff's Office.
A massive search and rescue effort was launched, which included a California Highway Patrol helicopter, a sheriff's dive team, sheriff's search and rescue officials and a Cal Fire technical rescue team.
"The terrain is extremely remote and difficult to access, making rescue efforts especially challenging," the sheriff's department said in a written statement.
The three hikers who reported the incident were evacuated from the area by helicopter on Thursday evening as the search continued.
Search efforts were suspended on Thursday afternoon due to poor underwater visibility, strong currents and high winds, officials said.
The search resumed Friday and continued through the weekend "in a limited but ongoing capacity," according to the sheriff's department statement.
Volunteer diver Heredia of Stockton, founder of Angels Recovery Dive Team, began searching for the bodies. Heredia posted on Facebook about his team's efforts to locate the three.
"I found them!! The family no longer has to wait in agony!! That waterfall was brutal He was pushing me hard... but I wouldn't leave without those 3 souls," he wrote. "Josh Robinson and I hiked over 3 hours just to get to that pose 47 feet deep. I did four dives — almost 3 minutes each — with ice water, and very deep. But we couldn't wait. I knew it could take weeks to surface. Families needed to close this chapter already," he wrote.
He also called out the sheriff's office in his post. "Families shouldn't wait for days. If they knew there are people willing to help — divers, volunteers, even officers walking in the dark — they might have answers much sooner."
The agency announced on Sunday morning that the men had been found.
"It is with heavy hearts that we share the bodies of the three men have been recovered," the statement said. "Our heartfelt condolences go out to their families, friends, and all those affected by this tragic loss."
The identities of the victims were not released.
In April 2024, the Stockton City Council recognized Heredia as the "city council hero" after the scuba diving instructor volunteered to search the Calaveras River for 15-year-old Xavier Martinez when he went missing in March.
San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department officials spent days searching the waters but couldn't locate the teen. Heredia found Martinez's body within 30 minutes of his dive.
Heredia received a standing ovation from the nearly 900 people in attendance.
In January 2025, a billboard went up next to the yellow Mexican restaurant El Señor Frog's in Stockton that read, "Thank you, Juan Heredia ... Hometown Hero."
At first, Heredia was in disbelief. When someone sent him a photo of the billboard, he thought it was a joke and assumed it was Photoshopped. But to his surprise, it was real when he and his wife Mercedes Heredia checked it out in person, he said.
'I am not a hero': Stockton diver celebrated with billboard after tireless search for lost
"Wow, it was something incredible," Heredia told The Stockton Record of the billboard.
Aside from being a volunteer diver and the founder of the nonprofit Angels Recovery Dive Team, Heredia is also a Realtor, mortgage loan originator and general contractor. He and his wife Mercedes have a blended family of five.
"This country gave me so many good things that my way of giving back is by putting my skills in diving for the community," he told The Record earlier this year as he explained what drives him to help bring families closure.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Stockton diver Juan Heredia finds bodies of 3 men missing in California