A few feet away, she saw a dark form that was Deanda, struggling to swim. The Morbys sent someone to call for help but lost sight of Deanda as he went under. Members of Columbia Basin Dive Rescue arrived within 20 minutes, but team members still could not find Deanda after four hours of diving among metal-reinforced concrete blocks and fishing wire. The man was presumed drowned about 200 feet downstream of the South Columbia Basin Irrigation District's pump house in Burbank. Wendy Morby directed divers to where she last saw Deanda.
Divers plan to search the area again today.
Morby and his two sons were fishing in a cove around the bend from where the Deandas were playing with their nieces and nephews. The water is deceiving, he said, because it seems to be shallow but drops off steeply just feet from shore. Wendy Morby and her son were walking toward the river when she heard the children yelling. She didn't realize the cries were anything other than play. Then Morby saw the aunt, Marilyn Deanda, backstroke into shore away from someone in the water.