Father drowns rescuing son from Morgan Hill Creek

A father saved his young son from drowning but was pulled under water doing so.

According to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, the 35-year-old man was swimming with his family at a pond near Ogier Avenue in Morgan Hill on Sunday.

Around 2 p.m. a family of four adults and eight kids were swimming at Ogier Pond when one of the kids went into deeper water. Sgt. Rich Glennon of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office said the four year old boy did not know how to swim. The father jumped in to rescue the boy. He was able to successfully hand him over to safety but then went under water.

Deputies arrived and the dive team did a search of the water but couldn’t locate the father. The sheriff’s office then used a sonar device and located the mans body 15 feet below the surface.

The family had been swimming in an area similar to a creek that meets a larger body of water.

Authorities said the man was not wearing a life jacket and it’s unclear if anyone else was wearing a life vest at the time.