ATV rider missing for hours found dead in west Stanislaus County canal
A 21-year-old man from Chicago was found dead in a west Stanislaus County canal early Friday hours after he crashed the ATV he’d been riding, according to the California Highway Patrol.
At about 9:30 p.m. Thursday the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department was dispatched to a report of a missing person in a rural area west of the San Joaquin River, between Highway 132 and Grayson. Deputies were told that Sebastian Marques was riding an ATV in that area and didn’t return home, according to the CHP.
Deputies searched the area in which Marques had been riding and at 11:34 p.m. located the ATV partially submerged in the West Stanislaus Main Canal. Firefighters responded to the scene to assist with the search for Marques. At 2:22 a.m. Friday Marques was located under the water and his body was recovered.
According to the CHP’s preliminary investigation, Marques had been riding eastbound on an unnamed country road when, for unknown reasons, the ATV left the roadway, traveled down a dirt embankment and overturned into the water.
Marques, who was not wearing a helmet, was ejected. Investigators have not yet determined whether he died of injuries sustained in the crash or drowned.
