24-year-old dead after rescue from canal in Mendota | YourCentralValley.com

24-year-old Jairo Romero (picture provided by family)

MENDOTA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A 24-year-old man who was reported missing in the Mendota area on Tuesday evening was pulled from a canal near Mendota Pool Park on Wednesday.

According to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, the call about the missing person came in around 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, but officials said darkness made the search for the victim difficult and they had to call it off. The search resumed the next morning and the victim’s body was recovered around 9:15 a.m.

“No one will really know what happened. The only person who knows for sure can no longer answer those questions,” said Sgt. Chris Tullus of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. “We have a general idea of ​​what happened, but we can’t confirm it at this time.”

Sgt Tullus said the victim was at the canal with his girlfriend and they decided to go fishing. Officials have not officially released the victim’s identity, but the victim’s family has identified him as 24-year-old Jairo Romero.

Jairo Romero’s brother, Michael Romero, says he knows his brother had a seizure that led him to go into the water. The Mendota High School graduate was playing basketball Tuesday before heading to the canal to go fishing.

“There’s nothing we haven’t seen in these banks, we know them like the back of our hands,” Michael said. “We grew up in Mendota. There’s not much you can do out here except, well, grab a fishing rod and get out here.”

Michael Romero says his brother’s seizures began about two years ago and have required 24-hour care since then.

The official cause of death of Jairo Romero has yet to be announced by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.