Two days after a rafter was tossed into the Green River near Triplet Falls in Dinosaur National Monument his body was recovered by park rangers.

The unidentified 34-year-old man from Denver went overboard about 3 p.m. Saturday when the raft he was riding in flipped in the rapid, which carries a Class III difficulty rating. Three other boaters also were tossed into the river, but they managed to get to shore.

According to a release from the monument, "A 16-member private river trip ran Triplet Falls on Saturday, June 20. After running the rapid, four members of the party hiked back upstream to run a section of the rapid known as the 'Birth Canal' with a 9-foot paddle raft. The group made it through the 'Birth Canal,' but hit a rock shortly below, and the raft flipped, dumping all four occupants into the river.

"The paddle raft was flushed down river and recovered by other members of the group. Three of the rafters were able to swim to shore. The fourth occupant of the paddle raft, a 34-year-old man from Denver, Colorado, was briefly spotted in the water below the Birth Canal before he disappeared. Members group reported that he appeared to be stuck. The rafting party observed that his personal flotation device and one shoe popped to the surface where he was last seen. The group searched for the missing rafter for approximately one to two hours. The group then continued downstream on their rafts to seek assistance. They stopped for the night at Rippling Brook campsite as it was getting dark and did not want to risk rowing in the darkness."

Rangers at Echo Park were notified Sunday about 11 a.m. of the incident. An inter-agency response team left Gates of Lodore by boat to Triplet Falls on Sunday evening. The group arrived at Triplet Falls to begin water-based search and recovery efforts on Monday. The victim was located at approximately 12:30 pm. His body was being transported to Echo Park by raft.

Triplet Falls is located about a dozen miles south of the monument's northern boundary. The area is surrounded by steep canyon walls rising 1,200 feet and higher above the river. There is no cell service in that portion of the monument. River flow was approximately 1,670 cubic feet per second (cfs) at the time of the incident.