Man may be financially responsible for river rescue

GUNNISON — Bug-bitten, but lucky, a man survived a night outside after falling into the river Saturday.

Gunnison County Undersheriff Rick Besecker said 20-year-old Cody Ackerson and three of his friends hopped into the Gunnison River aboard a homemade raft during the town’s whitewater festival.

Witnesses reportedly told the sheriff’s office Ackerson was highly intoxicated, began “freaking out” for reasons unknown and literally rocked the boat, capsizing it. His friends were able to swim to shore, but Ackerson floated away.

Swift Water Rescue members and emergency medical services were paged to the scene, near the McCabe’s Lane area, and began a massive search, both in the water and with rescuers walking along the shore.

Ackerson was not to be found. “The best we can figure is, he made it to the southern shore and avoided detection, spent the night there, slept within the willows and next morning, he discovered he’d been attacked by numerous ants,” Besecker said.

Besecker said it appeared as though Ackerson had deliberately hidden from rescue teams, so the agencies might seek to hold him financially responsible for the costs of the rescue attempt.

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