Accident Database

Missouri man identified in Rio Grande rafting death

By Geoffrey Plant The Taos News Jun 15, 2023

TAOS — The Taos County Sheriff's Office has identified the man who died last week while rafting the Racecourse section of the Rio Grande as 59-year-old Alan Gadkari of Missouri. Gadkari was with his wife and daughter on a guided rafting trip June 7 when their raft overturned.

Two more rafting deaths reported on Rio Grande in Taos County

Marks three river deaths within a month

By Geoffrey Plant, Taos News

June 6, 2023 

One rafter died, two more were injured and one was found safe after going missing Wednesday afternoon (June 7) in the Racecourse section of the Rio Grande, four days after a 73-year-old man also died while rafting the Razorblades rapids, bringing total river fatalities in Taos County to three within a month.

Dispatch reports overheard on a police scanner indicated that the rafter who died Wednesday went in the water around 2 p.m. in a section of the river located along NM 68 near Mile Marker 27. First responders from Taos Fire Rescue spoke with the Taos News on scene about an hour after the accident was reported and confirmed that the rafter had died and two others were injured.

Taos County Emergency Services Chief David Varela told the Taos News Thursday morning (June 8) that the deceased was a male in his 60s, but his identity has not been released. Varela said the guide in the raft that flipped was guiding a family of three down the river, and the rafter who was unaccounted for was a woman who was found safe later in the afternoon.

The rafters were on the Rio Grande with a guide, but with water levels flowing at high levels this spring due to ongoing snowmelt and heavy rains, even professional rafters have found the river to be treacherous this spring.

"The amount of water that's moving right now is insane," Varela said.

The rafter who died over the weekend was also rafting with a professional guide.

"Unfortunately, there was an incident," said Will Blackstock, owner of Far Flung Adventures, confirming on Thursday (June 8) that the event occurred "on the lower Ute Mountain run in the Class III and Class IV Razorblade rapids."

"We're pretty heartbroken over the whole thing," Blackstock said Tuesday. 

Chris Cote, a firefighter with the Latir Fire District, said the volunteer department led the initial response.

An above-average snowpack and cool temperatures have delivered a sustained and robust runoff into the Rio Grande and its tributaries this spring, leading to sometimes hazardous conditions along stretches of the Rio Grande. On Saturday (June 3), the U.S. Geological Survey gauge near Cerro registered river flows that peaked at 3,070 cubic feet per second, triple the maximum river flow recorded by the gauge over the course of the entire last year.

Chief Varela estimated that the Rio Grande in Taos County typically sees an average of between one and two deaths per season. He said he and his staff will remain on high alert for the remainder of the rafting season while water levels remain high.

Clarification: After receiving conflicting reports on the location of the June 3 incident, Far Flung Adventures confirmed to the Taos News that John Matteson drowned in the Razorblades whitewater section of the Rio Grande.