CANYON LAKE, Texas – A search is underway Monday for a 19-year-old tuber who went underwater and did not resurface in Canyon Lake, the Comal County Sheriff’s Office said.
Roiner Alejandro Rojas Pereira of San Antonio was floating on a tube around 7 p.m. on Sunday when he drifted toward the water intake near the Canyon Lake Dam.
Pereira did not know how to swim, said family friend Ana Palencia, and began to scream when he fell off the tube.
“He’s screaming in Spanish, ‘help me’ and, like, waving his arms. And then he goes underwater and like, we can’t see him anymore,” Palencia said.
Several family members and friends tried to swim out to him, Palencia said. Pereira resurfaced, but when his would-be rescuers were only feet away, he went under for the last time.
Pereira lived in San Antonio after recently coming up from Venezuela, Palencia said, describing him as “calm” and “hard-working.” Pereira and his brother would send money back to their dad in South America, she said.
Pereira had celebrated his 19th birthday less than a month ago.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens, the Hays (SMART) Dive Team, and the Comal County Sheriff’s Office began their search again near Overlook Park on Monday morning.
Though Overlook Park is a popular area for visitors, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told KSAT it is not a designated swimming area and has no lifeguards.
At this time of this writing, Pereira has not yet been found.