DOWNIEVILLE – On Thursday, January 26, at 4:51 p.m. a report reached the Sierra County Sheriff's Office about 48-year-old Sierra City resident Braulio (Lio) Nevarez floating down the North Yuba river a short distance east of Downieville. Sheriff Mike Fisher and his deputies quickly contacted CHP for a search & rescue helicopter and the white water rescue team from Nevada County. Fisher's efforts, however, were moot because, within 25 minutes of the initial report, Nevarez was located by his brother amidst rocks in the middle of the river less than halfway from Downieville to The Lure resort. Deputy Rachel Wheeler arrived at the river bank only minutes after the brother entered the cold and fast-moving water to retrieve Nevarez from the rocks in the middle of the river. Wheeler entered the treacherous water at her peril in a courageous effort to throw a rope at the family member of the unresponsive Nevarez. According to the brother, "Deputy Rachel Wheeler was great!" He is grateful for her heroism. Subsequently, he was then able to tie the rope around his brother, allowing Wheeler, who was waist-deep in water ten feet away, to better assist everyone in crossing back to the riverbank. Deputies Chase Milhous and Scott Bayly arrived from the east side of the county to further aid in this unfolding of events. After carrying Nevarez to the bank, his brother left Nevarez in the skilled care of the Downieville and Sierra City Fire departments. Western Sierra Medical Clinic's Daniel Barry, P.A., was also on the scene for the recovery effort. The family member and Wheeler quickly departed to get changed into dry clothes lest hypothermia set in. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation began immediately, with folks conducting CPR, rotating every five minutes over multiple hours. With Barry administering cardiac arrest drugs and applying a defibrillator repeatedly to the body, combined with the numerous hours of CPR, every effort was made under the direction of the medical staff at their base hospital, with a medical chopper standing by once a sign of life returned. Unfortunately, despite eventually bringing the body to a warm temperature, a sign of life did not return. The Mountain Messenger was unable to confirm a documented time of death. According to the brother who was with Nevarez at the onset of this tragic event, they were driving back to Sierra City from Downieville when a discussion ensued, and they decided to return to Downieville. When the brother turned his vehicle around at the beginning of the bridge to The Lure, the brother stopped the truck and began looking both ways for oncoming traffic before turning left and heading back to Downieville. At this time, Nevarez exited the truck and ventured down the steep bank and under The Lure's bridge. The brother parked his truck, exited the vehicle, clearly saw Nevarez holding onto a pier below the bridge looking at the water, and began calling for Nevarez to return to the truck but he did not respond. It is unclear to the brother why Nevarez did not answer. His cries for Nevarez to return to the vehicle could have been unheard with the mighty sound of the river rushing by. Observing his brother trying to jump over a section of water before falling into the river, and seeing his unsuccessful attempts to swim out of the predicament, Nevarez's brother left the scene for help. In reflecting back to those moments before turning his truck around at The Lure, his brother indicated communications with Nevarez were amicable, and no words were exchanged to cause him to leave the truck or to head down to the river. One thing is certain, Nevarez's brother doesn't "know why he got out of the truck and walked down to the river" or "what Lio was thinking as he tried to jump a section of water." The family is heartbroken. Placer County is holding the body of Lio Nevarez for autopsy, and all the pathology reports are conducted and finalized to return to Sierra County Sheriff-Coroner Mike Fisher. It will take a couple of weeks before Fisher has all the information he needs to determine the cause of death. In the meantime, Jim Westfall of Sierra City has organized a fundraiser on behalf of the family to return Lio's body to Mexico for burial near his surviving children and grandchildren. At the time of this writing, they have received $11,605 of the requested $12,500. Readers wishing to contribute, please visit gofundme.com and find Braulio "Lio" Nevarez.