Patterson Irrigator

Tragedy:A memorial is placed in Westley near where Alfonso Reyes' vehicle plunged into the Delta-Mendota Canal last week. Reyes' car was found in the canal Dec. 29. Photo by Jonathan Partridge/Patterson Irrigator

California Highway Patrol identified the man as Alfonso Ramos, 49, after finding him Dec. 29. The coroner’s office of the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department gave his name as Alfonso Ramos-Reyes.

The man’s brother reported seeing signs that a vehicle had gone into the canal as he drove along its banks earlier that day, according to the CHP. 

Westley-El Solyo firefighters initially received reports that the body was in the California Aqueduct, so they searched the aqueduct near Howard Road and Interstate 5, fire Chief Mike Lara said. However, it later became clear that the brother was referring to the Delta-Mendota Canal.

Rescue workers recovered the man’s body from inside a 1997 Ford Escort in the canal about 1,000 feet south of Needham Road at about 5 p.m. Dec. 29. Car parts were reportedly found along the canal bank near where the car was found, Lara said, and a concrete stairway along the bank is broken.

Photo by Jonathan Partridge / Patterson Irrigator

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