A 46-year-old Colorado man who fell into the Rogue River while trying to free a stuck raft remains missing more than a week later, according to the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office.

The missing man, David Bartecchi, slipped on a rock, fell into swift-moving water, went under the surface and got his foot and leg stuck, the sheriff’s office reported in a news release issued Thursday, one week after the Sept. 28 incident.

Bartecchi had been rafting with a private party of 11 people in five rafts. The raft that became stuck got hung up midstream.

The incident occurred at Wildcat Rapids, located about 5 miles below Grave Creek in the Wild Section of the federally designated Wild and Scenic river. The location is west of Merlin and downstream from Galice. The Sheriff’s Office was notified by satellite phone at 4:27 p.m. that day about the drowning.

“Due to the swift and dangerous water, the victim was immediately pushed into a large ‘strainer’ made by two large rocks,” according to marine deputy Kyle Wolfe, who wrote that Bartecchi was pinned to the side of the rock under water.

“Several people in the group attempted to pull him out, however, due to the pressure of the water they were unable to,” Wolfe said.

Rescue workers with the Sheriff’s Office, county Search and Rescue and the Bureau of Land Management set up rope systems and maneuvered a rescue team in a raft upriver, but swift water and slick rocks hampered efforts, including efforts to use long poles and ropes to recover the body.

“The swift water pulled him under the rock and down river,” Wolfe said.

Search efforts were called off about 8:30 p.m. that day and resumed the next day at 7 a.m., but they were eventually called off.

Bartecchi was wearing a life jacket, but his foot and leg had become entrapped, according to Wolfe.

Bartecchi was the executive director of Village Earth, an educational organization in Fort Collins, Colorado, and co-founder of Native Lands Advocacy Project, according to a social media post by Sebastian Africano, executive director of Trees, Water & People, of Fort Collins.

“His commitment to Indigenous sovereignty was infinite — it was part of who he was and what fuled his passion,” Africano wrote. “He leaves behind a wife and two daughters he adored.”

At least five other people have died in Rogue River incidents this year, according to sheriff’s departments in Josephine and Jackson counties:

• Lynn Boyum, 68, and her husband, Danny Boyum, 72, both of Grants Pass, died May 12 at Indian Mary Park in Josephine Canyon after their dog swam to the far side of the river and wouldn’t return, prompting Lynn Boyum to enter the water to retrieve the animal, but she became overwhelmed by the swift current. Danny Boyum threw a rope to her without success and entered the water, but he, too, became overwhelmed and went under.

• Darrin Kazlauskas, 58, of McMinnville died July 20 when his kayak flipped and he suffered a “medical event” during a guided tour of Hellgate Canyon in Josephine County. He didn’t drown, but suffered a medical emergency, according to Wolfe. Guides with Orange Torpedo Trips and emergency personnel performed CPR. Kazlauskas was wearing a life vest.

• The body of Michael A. Turcotte, 52, of Jackson County was found by fishermen Sept. 7 in the 5600 block of Foothill Boulevard, downstream from the city of Rogue River. He drowned. Turcotte had no permanent address and no next of kin have been located.

• A 69-year-old man drowned Sept. 12 after the raft he was riding in during a guided trip flipped at Ti’lomikh Falls near Gold Hill. Bystanders and first responders performed CPR. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office refused to release the name of the man, who was wearing a life jacket.