Missing resident may have drowned

Authorities have yet to find the body of a Costa Mesa man who vanished last week and is presumed drowned in a Northern California river.

A witness reported that Toshimitu Tsuraha, 54, was sucked into the Trinity River after he caught a large fish and struggled to reel it in, said Trinity County Sheriff Lorrac Craig.

In the late afternoon of July 9, authorities said Tsuraha was fishing with a friend along the Trinity River in Northwestern California, east of Humboldt County, when he got a bite. Salmon and steelhead trout are abundant in the area this time of year, authorities said.

The river can be up to 50 to 60 feet wide but was not especially strong that day, Craig said.

“It sounds like he caught a fish; he wound up in the water dealing with the fish,” he said. “He wouldn’t let go of the fishing pole.”

Tsuraha’s friend reported seeing him float away.

“The flow isn’t real high, but the problem was they were fishing just before the Class V rapids,” Craig said. Class V rapids are perilous with violent currents, obstructions and steep drops.

Craig said he knows of other cases where bodies have never been found after they’ve flowed into those rapids.

Authorities only recovered Tsuraha’s shoes, which his friend said were two-sizes too big and Tsuraha walked in them like sandals, Craig said.

County search and rescue and the California Highway Patrol assisted in the search but were unsuccessful.

Craig said Tsuraha’s body never made it to the other end of the rapids.

— Joseph Serna