Residents Near Deep Fork River Advise Swimmers Stay Away

Search crews recovered the body of a man who jumped in the turbulent waters of the Deep Fork River earlier this week. Now residents who live nearby are speaking out saying, swimmers need to stay away.

Wednesday, June 12th 2013, 10:43 pm

By: News 9


Search crews recovered the body of a man who jumped in the turbulent waters of the Deep Fork River earlier this week. Now residents who live nearby are speaking out saying, swimmers need to stay away.

The search for that man began out there on Monday afternoon. He jumped into the water from a popular spot that folks around here know as Bull Head Falls.

The people who own the property around the falls say tragedies like this one could have been prevented because people shouldn't be down there in the first place.

Terri Haynes's fears became reality when a 28-year-old man went missing in the turbulent waters behind her home.

6/10/2013 Related Story: Water Rescue Underway In Northeast OKC

"I worried all night long. There's somebody dead in these falls, and it breaks my heart," Haynes says. "I didn't sleep all night.

She and her husband live there and manage the 400 acres around Bull Head Falls. For years, they've had trouble with people trespassing.

"We have it posted, 'no trespassing', all around the property. We have gates up," Haynes said.

But it hasn't stopped people from coming here to party and leaving a mess behind.

"There were hypodermic needles, beer cans … tons and tons of them," Haynes said.

Monday, engineers shut off the water from Lake Arcadia  to make conditions safe enough for rescue crews. With the water down, you can see how dangerous it was when the man jumped in.

"The rocks come down and underneath, and when you dive in, you don't know that… And to do it when the river's so high, there's no common sense. When you're drinking alcohol, you're so impaired, you think you're invincible," Haynes said.

6/12/2013 Related Story: Crews Find Body Of Missing Man In Deep Fork River

The property owners have called the sheriff's office several times and they say they're aware of the problem.

Wednesday afternoon, Luther firefighters found man's body miles away from here around Northeast 220th and Dobbs. At this point, authorities are not identifying the man.

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