Nicaraguan father 1 of 2 drowning deaths at Lake Mead over Father’s Day weekend
A Nicaraguan man who drowned at the Lake Mead Recreational Area was one of two people who drowned over the Father’s Day weekend.
The man was identified by the Clark County coroner’s office as 35-year-old Wilmer Antonio Castilblanco Rizo.
Castilblanco Rizo went to Nelson’s Landing on Saturday with family, according to his younger brother Guillermo Castilblanco Rizo.
At around 1:30 p.m., while the younger brother was at work, Guillermo said he called Wilmer and said he could hear that his older brother was intoxicated.
“Brother, stop drinking,” he told his older brother in Spanish. Wilmer responded with “No, I’m not drinking. Don’t worry. I’ll see you soon, and we’ll talk in the evening.”
But evening came, and his older brother never came back.
Wilmer was found unconscious in the water with little signs of life, according to Guillermo Castilblanco Rizo. When a medical evacuation aircraft arrived at Placer Cove, it was too late. Wilmer was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the coroner’s office.
He was one of the six people that died at Lake Mead over Father’s Day weekend, along with Cristina Alvarado-Menendez, who also drowned that same weekend.
His family remembered Wilmer as a respectful man who had two daughters in Nicaragua and who treated everyone as if they were family. He immigrated two years ago after seeking asylum. Many in the Nicaraguan community in Las Vegas knew him, his brother said.
The family has set up a GoFundMe to collect enough money to transport his body to Nicaragua so that his family back home can say their last goodbyes. It had raised $3,570 of its $15,000 goal as of Friday night.
Contact Jimmy Romo at jromo@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0350. Follow @jimi_writes on Twitter.
