Search For North Carolina Man Who Disappeared On Snake River Now A Recovery Mission

For three days, rafts, jet skis, a jet boat, drones and search dogs have combed the Snake River below a popular cliff-jumping spot near Alpine, all with one goal: bring Tory J. Raether home.

The 55-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, man disappeared Saturday night after leaping into the river at Jump Rock, about a quarter-mile east of the Sheep Gulch Boat Ramp.

Authorities say he was not wearing a life jacket when the swift current pulled him under. Despite desperate attempts by others in his group to save him, he vanished into the water.

Now, as Star Valley Search & Rescue continues what authorities acknowledge has become a recovery mission, Raether's family and closest friends have gathered in Wyoming, hoping against hope that searchers can give them the one thing they still desperately want — the chance to bring him home.

"The goal is to find their family member and return him to them, so they can have closure," Lincoln County Sheriff M. Shane Johnson told Cowboy State Daily. "That's what we'll continue to work for." 

Searching Every Day

On Tuesday, specially trained search dogs joined the effort.

Johnson said Star Valley Search & Rescue remains the lead agency, assisted by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Forest Service. Searchers continue working the river daily, looking for any sign of Raether. 

The river itself presents constant challenges.

"The water is a little bit low, and it's moving swiftly," Johnson said, adding that wearing a life jacket "certainly increases your chance of survival if something does go wrong." 

Changing river conditions create underwater hazards that make recovery efforts difficult.

Johnson said eddies, submerged obstructions and fluctuating water levels mean certain areas become more likely places where a victim could become caught. Search & Rescue volunteers know the river well and focus on those locations while continuing to search the surrounding area. 

"As time goes by, the likelihood of having a positive outcome certainly goes down," Johnson said. "We certainly feel like it's a recovery at this point." 

Family And Friends Waiting

While professional rescuers continue searching the river, Raether's loved ones have made their own journey west.

Among those joining them is Brad Johnson, Raether's best friend of 35 years.

Johnson said he learned what had happened when Raether's wife texted him Sunday evening.

"I went out there with him last year in August," Johnson said. "We rafted that very same river." 

He said Wyoming was one of Raether's favorite places.

"He loved Jackson Hole," Johnson said. "It's one of his favorite spots in the country." 

Raether had traveled west to spend time with family. One of his daughters lives in the Jackson area, and he, his wife and another daughter had come to visit her. 

Johnson said he and another lifelong friend from Wisconsin are traveling to Wyoming to help search alongside Raether's daughter's boyfriend, who works as a rafting guide in Jackson.

"We're going to help ... as much as we can to search," Johnson said. 

'Like A Brother'

For Johnson, the search is about much more than recovering a missing man.

It's about finding someone he considered family.

"Tory wasn't just a friend to me — he was like a brother," Johnson said. "We were friends for 35 years, and I talked to him almost every day."

Johnson described Raether as someone whose personality drew people in almost instantly.

"He was one of those rare people who made life brighter simply by walking into a room," he said. "I've never known anyone who could make people laugh the way Tory could. Within minutes of meeting him, people felt like they had known him for years."

He said Raether built a successful career as an investment professional but never allowed money to define him.

"Whether he had a dollar or a million dollars, he was exactly the same person," Johnson said. "Success never changed him."

Instead, he devoted his time to mentoring others, volunteering through Kiwanis and Rotary, helping friends build businesses and looking for ways to lift up those around him.

More than anything, Johnson said, Raether loved his family.

"His wife and his three children were the center of his world, and he spoke about them with tremendous pride and love," he said.

"He's hard to capture in one word," he said, holding back tears. "I'm not kidding. He's the most special person you've ever met." 

Later, he added, "You can't capture Tory in one sentence. It's impossible." 

Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.