Sunday morning (Aug 17, 2014) just after 6:30 A.M. the Sheriff’s dispatch center received a call from a resident along the South Fork of the American River. She advised that a neighbor had been camping along the South Fork of the American River when the neighbor was contacted by a male adult walking along the river. The man advised the neighbor that he had been floating on the South Fork of the American River with a friend in an inflatable raft. Their raft sank somewhere up stream from where he was currently at, around 9:00 P.M. the night before. Both he and his friend ended up in the water and became seperated. The subject had not seen his friend since.

Deputies responded to the area and contacted the reporting parties. Deputies were advised that Raymond Nocon, 32 of Folsom, Ca was missing and had not been seen since the night before, when the raft he was floating in sank a short distance down river from a location known to rafters as Gorilla Rock.

Personnel from the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, El Dorado County Search and Rescue, El Dorado County Parks, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, California State Parks and the California Highway Patrol responded to the area and began searching for Mr. Nocon. As of this time (August 18, 1030 A.M.) Mr. Nocon has not been located.

Gorrilla Rock is approximately 13.9 miles down stream from Chili bar, and approximately 7.6 miles up stream from the Salmon Falls bridge. It is just upstream from the river area that is commonly referred to as the South Fork American River Gorge.

Personnel are currently still searching the area on foot, via patrol boats and with the use of CHP aircraft.