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DINOSAUR, Colorado — A man involved in a fatal river rafting accident was identified Tuesday afternoon.
The Moffat County Coroner’s office identified the victim as Richard Francis Zinter, 34, of Denver, Colorado. His body was recovered from the Green River in the Dinosaur National Monument by search and rescue crews Monday afternoon.
Zinter was part of a 16-member private group taking a river rafting trip to Triplet Falls on Saturday, according to Dinosaur National Monument officials. After running the rapid, four members of the party hiked back upstream to run a section of the river known as the “Birth Canal.”
The group used a 9-foot paddle raft during the run and made it through the rapid but hit a rock right below it, flipping the raft and dumping all four people into the river, officials said. The paddle raft floated downriver and was recovered by other members of the party.
Three of the rafters were able to swim to shore, but Zinter disappeared in the water. He was briefly spotted below the “Birth Canal” by members of the group who reported he appeared to be stuck, officials said. They observed his personal flotation device and one shoe floating on the surface.
The canyon does not have cellphone service, and the group searched for the missing man for about two hours before continuing down the river to get help. They had to stop at the Rippling Brook campsite because it was getting dark and they “did not want to risk rowing in the darkness,” officials said.
The group arrived at the Echo Park Ranger Station around 11 a.m. Sunday and reported the incident to Dinosaur National Monument officials. Crews from the Moffat County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Dinosaur National Monument responded, and, after they located Zinter’s body, transported him to Echo Park by raft.
The family has requested that in lieu of sending flowers, people may make a donation* to the Kendall and Taylor Atkinson Foundation in Zinter’s name.
Triplet Falls has a Class 3 difficulty rating and the river flow was approximately 1,670 cubic feet per second at the time of the incident, officials said.
*KSL.com does not assure that the monies deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
