After her family launched a vigorous search along the north coast for any sign of her missing father, Rachel Ortiz received an alarming call: Her cousin found what appeared to be her dad’s pickup truck, submerged in the Russian River along Highway 1.
Ortiez and a group of family members rushed to the scene, where, as first responders worked, their worst fears were confirmed: It was his truck and his body was inside.
“We all comforted each other and it was so sad,” Ortiz said. “But at the same time this sense of relief because the fact that we couldn’t find him was just eating us up and we couldn’t imagine what it was going to be like if we never could find him.”…