Colorado River drowning victim ID'd

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A man whose body was found Thursday night in the Colorado River near the Montopolis bridge likely died from drowning, police said.

The Austin Fire Department's diving crews were called out just before 6:30 p.m. in response to a call that a swimmer had gone under.

He was identified Friday afternoon as Javier Meza Ketana, 43.

Officials said the man was swimming with his family in the area underneath the bridge near Levander Loop in East Austin .

Robert Hull, was sitting on the bank of the river grading papers when he heard children screaming for help so he dived in to see if he could rescue the man, but he wasn't able to get to him.

"The real tragedy is it happened right in front of his kids," said Hull. "I just felt helpless, [sic] there was nothing I could do."

Rescue crews have been searching the area but they haven't found his body -- so the mission has switched to recovery mode. AFD has two diving crews searching, one at the site where he was reported missing and another one downstream. 

Rescue officials said if they don't recover his body this evening, they will suspend the search and resume in the morning.