Kayaker's GoPro Camera Captures His Own Drowning
The body of Paul Rodriguez Jr. hasn’t been found.
![Paul Rodriguez Jr 1](https://newsfulonline.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Paul-Rodriguez-Jr-1.jpg?quality=82&strip=1&resize=640%2C360)
An average of 4,012 unintentional drowning deaths occur each year, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. In some presumed drowning cases, the body is never recovered. This week a kayaker in Alaska went missing while kayaking near Alaska's 13-mile-long Mendenhall Glacier. While his body hasn't been recovered, his GoPro camera was discovered by investigators, and it recorded his own drowning.
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Paul Rodriguez Jr. went missing July 11 while kayaking. For days, a search party combed the surrounding area for clues as to what happened to the 43-year-old. Six days into the search they found a major clue.
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According to the Division of Alaska State Troopers, on July 11, U.S. Forest Service employees saw a man walking from his car toward the glacier — about 12 miles northwest of downtown Juneau — wearing a T-shirt and carrying an ice ax and a climbing helmet.
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His roommate saw him last in Juneau July 10. The following day he posted his last social media photo of a kayak that appeared to be near the glacier, police said.
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One July 16 a climbing helmet with a GoPro action camera was located near an empty kayak with a dry bag attached to it. The footage was beyond grim. "The GoPro video was recording when the kayak overturned and Rodriguez went in the water," Tim DeSpain, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Public Safety, said in an email. "The recording continued showing that the kayak overturned due to a strong current coming from the glacier."
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Rodriguez's body still hasn't been found. On July 16, investigators located his car near the glacier's visitors center. Authorities believe Rodriguez was not wearing a personal flotation device when he drowned.
![](https://newsfulonline.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/07/Paul-Rodriguez-Jr-3.jpg?quality=82&strip=all&w=500)
Rodriguez's son, Jaden Rodriguez, told the Associated Press that his father was kindhearted and enjoyed being outdoors, doing activities like fishing, paddleboarding and snowboarding. Rodriguez also was a gifted photographer. "He was a good person," he said.