May 28, 2008, 12:14AM
Houston man saves relative, but drowns in Brazos River


By RUTH RENDON
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

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Francisco Garcia was aware of the strong Brazos River currents and routinely chastised his wife if she waded too far into the deep, murky waters.

Those strong currents at Bryan Beach in Brazoria County claimed Garcia's life over the weekend as he rushed into the river to save a struggling 9-year-old relative. The boy was able to survive because Garcia kept him afloat, enabling a man on a Jet Ski to pluck him out of the water and to the shoreline where anxious relatives watched.

By the time the Jet Ski turned back about 75 feet from the shoreline to retrieve Garcia, he was gone.

On the shoreline, Elena Garza dove into the water to try to save her husband of three years. Other relatives, however, pulled her back. Then she fainted.

"He knew the currents could get real bad out there," Garza, 22, said in Spanish from her southeast Houston home on Tuesday. "He was always getting on me, especially if I was on a float and the current would start moving me."

For most of the day on Sunday, Garza said she and her husband, along with the couple's 1-year-old daughter, Natalie, had enjoyed a traditional family gathering at Bryan Beach. Other extended family members joined the three for a day of fishing, playing cards and swimming.

"We were playing cards and then he got up and said he was going to the river," Garza said. He invited Rolando Juarez, the 9-year-old son of one of Garcia's cousins.

Garcia, 41, was always extremely careful while near the water's edge because he knew the currents could get strong and the river's bottom could become deep without notice, Garza said.

That is what Garza surmises happened about 3:50 p.m. Sunday. She said her husband, who worked as a chauffeur, would never have allowed the boy to venture that far into the water if it were deep. When the boy started struggling, Garcia went in after him.

While Garcia was able to keep the boy above the water, he, too, struggled with the undercurrent, said Freeport police Sgt. Juanita Cardozo.

Rescuers were able to locate Garcia's body about 6:20 p.m. Sunday, about 300 feet from where he disappeared.

There are large signs near the water's edge warning of the dangers and advising people to swim at their own risk, Cardozo said.

Bryan Beach is a popular undeveloped site in Freeport between the town of Quintana and the mouth of the Brazos River. Bryan Beach State Park is inland from the beach.

The mouth of the river has long been known for deep holes and strong currents, but remains a popular fishing spot.

Garcia's family members had been going to Bryan Beach over Memorial Day weekend for years. When someone suggested going to Texas City as a change, Garcia said no.

"He really liked going down there. He loved to fish," Garza said of her husband.

She said she will cherish a picture of her husband holding a string of fish he had caught in the Brazos River.

"I have never been in so much pain," she said. "I just have to remember all the happy memories he gave me."

Garza, who is from Honduras, was making funeral arrangements Tuesday.
Cardozo said authorities hope to track down the "good Samaritan" on the Jet Ski. "Our VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) wants to honor him as a hero."

Chronicle reporter Richard Stewart contributed to this report.

ruth.rendon@chron.com



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