In this photo provided by Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office on April 12, 2025, emergency crews search for a missing kayaker on the Willamette River. Deputies found the missing kayaker Sunday, May 4 near Meldrum Bar Park in Gladstone.
Courtesy of Clackamas County Sheriff's Office
Investigators have recovered the body of a 20-year-old man who went missing while kayaking in the Willamette River last month.
Marcelus Angelo Rodriguez, of Porterville, California, had last been seen on April 12, when witnesses said he went over Willamette Falls in a kayak and did not resurface. The kayak he was in was found the next day near Elk Rock Island, about 7 miles downstream of Willamette Falls.
Marcelus Angelo Rodriguez, in an undated photo provided by the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
Courtesy of Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office
On Sunday afternoon, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office was called to reports of a body along the shore of the river, just north of Meldrum Bar Park in Gladstone. The area is only about 2 miles downstream from the falls.
Responding deputies confirmed the report, and a marine unit recovered the body.
On Monday afternoon, the Clackamas County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed it was Rodriguez and notified his family.
This was the eighth body recovered from the Willamette River or Columbia River in the Portland area since the beginning of April, according to Deputy John Plock with the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.
“Since April 1, 2025, eight bodies have been recovered. Compared to April and May 2024, six bodies were recovered,” Plock said. “The number is not unusual, though it is tragic.”
The sheriff’s office does not believe there is suspicious activity connected to any of the deaths, or any connections between the cases.
Plock said around this time of year, there are two factors that contribute to people discovering human remains in waterways: increased water temperatures and increased water activity.
“Warmer water accelerates the natural decomposition process, which can cause bodies to rise to the surface more quickly,” he said, adding, “As the weather improves, more individuals engage in activities on and near the water, such as fishing and boating. This increased presence of people leads to a higher likelihood of previously undiscovered remains being observed and reported.”
When a body is recovered in the river, the river patrol unit takes it to the medical examiner’s office, where the cause of death is determined and the body is identified.
