KERN COUNTY, Calif. — The Kern County Sheriff's Office released the name of the 16 year old teen who drowned in the Kern River back on June 16th.
Ivan Esquivel jumped into the Kern River along with a 19 year old teen. The two teens were last seen in the river near the White-Water Trail Granite Launch area, near Lake Isabella. Sgt. Kevin Kimmel of the Kern County Sheriff Search and Rescue, said at the time that the family of the two teens were visiting from out of town for a camping trip.
Esquivel's body was initially discovered by someone around 12:20 p.m. on Tuesday, June 25th.
Officials are still searching for the other teen, as well as an 11 year old girl and several others missing in the Kern River.
Authorities continue to try to get the word out about the river's deadly waterways. The KCSO reached out beyond Kern County by inviting Los Angeles news outlets to a presser to help inform out-of-town people about the dangers of the Kern River and other bodies of water.
Statistics provided by KCSO show that since 2000 96 people have died in the Kern River. Of those, 39 are from out of town and 52 are local.
