Well-loved Sonoma wrestling coach Roger “Deets” Winslow was in water 160 feet deep when he died in a boating accident Aug. 9 on Lake Berryessa, and that made finding his body anything but easy.
But authorities from several jurisdictions were determined to help, said Capt. Doug Pike of the Napa County Sheriff’s Department – and the ensuing several-week effort involved people from the Napa, Santa Clara and Marin County sheriff’s departments, as well as some high-tech gear specially designed for deep-water exploration.
According to reports, Winslow – a 47-year-old Glen Ellen resident and legendary wrestling coach at Sonoma Valley High School – was piloting a high-powered speedboat, with two passengers, that Saturday evening when he was thrown from the boat and, authorities believe, hit by its propeller.
The incident happened in a part of Lake Berryessa known as The Narrows, near Monticello Dam, where waters are deep. And when Winslow didn’t surface, a search began.
“After he went missing, we made several attempts to try to locate him,” Pike said. “And because of the depth of the water in that area, we had to utilize special equipment, such as side-scan sonar.”
Such sonars are common and allow searchers to see a large portion of the lake bottom – or would, if the bottom weren’t so deep at that location. Because the side-scan sonar is mounted to the vessel, Pike said, it was unable to probe down far enough to find anything.
“Then we had to reach out to some surrounding counties,” Pike said, “and with the assistance of Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, they brought a similar device … that you tow off of the boat, which allows it to scan at greater depth than what our device would do.
“So they came up, and we scanned the general area, the lake bottom there.”
That search was inconclusive too, Pike said, but scans of the lake bottom were generated and printouts made. And in the days that followed, someone from Santa Clara County, combing over those printouts, noticed something that looked like a body.
“With that, we went back out last Monday (Sept. 15), and once again we needed some assistance,” Pike said. This time, it was Marin County helping out, bringing in a remote-controlled underwater device with a robotic arm attached to it.
The device, known as an ROV (remotely operated vehicle), was dropped into the frigid waters 160 feet down – too deep for rescue divers to go – and there searchers found the body of a man.
“Using the robotic arm, they were able to raise him from the bottom of the lake, and bring him up to a more appropriate or safe diving level,” Pike said. The human divers took over from there.
Pike said authorities were glad to be able to bring some closure for the family. He said they approached it as though they were searching for their own loved one, asking themselves, “What can we reasonably do to get that person back.”
Winslow’s body was identified with the help of a “distinctive tattoo,” Pike said. A fingerprint match confirmed the identity.
An autopsy had been scheduled for this week but was not completed by press time.
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