Local News
Local friends help drowning victims’ family
Arrangements made to hold funerals in Mexico
FAIRMONT — Two brothers drowned in a dangerous undertow in the Tygart Valley River on Tuesday afternoon at Valley Falls State Park when the younger brother tried to save his older brother, police said.
Victor Rubio, 26, jumped into the river at the second set of falls in the park to try and save his older brother, Luis Alberto Rubio, 29, police said.
Both Mexican citizens, the brothers spoke broken English, said Detective Shawn Mathews of the Marion sheriff’s department.
Police don’t know if they understood the many warning signs — in English — posted on the path to the falls, he said. They warn of hazardous currents and ban swimming or wading.
Luis, the older brother, fell into the river while the pair were going from rock to rock at the top of the second set of falls, Mathews said. “Victor then jumped in after him,” he said.
But both were dragged underwater and underneath the falls by a powerful undertow, he said.
Using their knowledge of the undertow and the river bottom, divers with the Marion County Water Rescue Team found Luis’ body within about a half-hour or shortly before 5 p.m. The first alarm was called in at 4:21 p.m., a dispatcher at the county’s 911 center said. Paramedics and emergency medical technicians then worked non-stop on Luis for more than a half-hour, trying to revive him.
The divers recovered Victor’s body around 5:30 p.m.
Luis and his wife, Mariela Janeth Rubio, 23, and their son, Brian Rubio, 2, had moved to the area about three weeks ago, Mathews said.
Luis had been working near Yakima, Wash.; Victor, his younger brother, had been working for the past three years at a Mexican restaurant in White Hall. Both men had work visas, Mathews said.
They were sightseeing at the park, taking pictures of the baby “to send back to their family in Mexico,” he said.
He said local friends of the brothers are rallying to help Mrs. Rubio and her son. Arrangements have been made to take the brothers back to their family’s home in Mexico for funerals there, Mathews said. She called her husband’s mother and her own mother Tuesday night.
“She lost her husband and brother-in-law in minutes,” he said.
Xavier Garcia, a Spanish teacher at East Fairmont High School, was called by police and rescuers to come and talk to Mrs. Rubio at the scene.
“His assistance was invaluable,” Mathews said.
A co-worker of Victor’s at the Mi Pueblo Restaurant in the Middletown Mall said he was “very responsible.”
“He was happy because he was going home next month to Mexico to see his family,” the co-worker said.
E-mail Bill Byrd at bbyrd@timeswv.com.
- Local News
-
-
Back to brick surface
The Fourth Street Bridge is open.
Motorists wanting to cross between Fairmont Avenue and Locust Avenue no longer have to search for creative shortcuts to avoid the enormous hill on Seventh Street or a plethora of stoplights.
“I am very pleased that it is once again open,” said Councilman Chuck Warner, who took a trip across the bridge a few hours after it opened on Thursday morning.
-
Waterline break quickly repaired
Business was interrupted downtown Thursday by a waterline break.
City of Fairmont Utilities Manager David Sago said the break occurred in a 10-inch line on Jackson Street at about 9:30 a.m.
City crews were on the scene in less than 25 minutes, Sago said.
-
Haymond Street work set Tuesday
Motorists driving on Fairmont’s East Side next Tuesday will be running into some delays while state road crews prepare a portion of Haymond Street for a fresh coat of asphalt in about six months.
This project is part of the developing Gateway Connector Highway, the 1.5-mile, four-lane roadway set to connect downtown Fairmont to Interstate 79, which is set for completion at the end of this year.
-
‘Out of the panic period’
Economists provided their insights into the future of the local and national economy Wednesday at the annual Morgantown Economic Outlook Conference.
-
‘It’s fun to be Irish’
“I may not be Irish, but it’s fun to be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day,” said Charles Long as he sat down for lunch at McAteer’s restaurant Wednesday.
-
Fairmont hopes to add to K-9 unit
The Fairmont City Police Department has plans to introduce a pair of furry four-legged officers to its fleet in the near future.
-
East schools focus on transition
Schools in the East attendance area have truly embraced a new initiative.
-
Former county teacher acquitted
Curtis Boylen, a former Marion County teacher accused of assaulting his former stepdaughter in 2007, was acquitted of all charges earlier this week following a four-day trial in Marion County Circuit Court.
-
Arrest ‘expected’ in Fairmont woman’s death
The Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department Tuesday denied that a suspect in the case of the death of a 45-year-old Fairmont woman is “at large.”
-
Evidence in dispute
According to testimony delivered by a Marion County sheriff’s deputy Tuesday, 21-year-old Jason Clay Anderson showed “no emotion” while answering questions just hours after his infant son was pronounced dead on the afternoon of June 23, 2007.
- More Local News Headlines
-
