Divers pulled the body of a 27-year-old Charlotte man from the Catawba River near Interstate 77 around noon Saturday, officials said.

Friends and family told The Herald that Gildardo Perez had been fishing with a buddy near the mouth of Dutchman Creek when he disappeared into the river around 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Emergency crews using diving equipment and airplanes searched the area until sundown Thursday, then took up the search again at first light this morning.

Cotton Howell, director of York County Emergency Services, said the drowning appeared to be accidental. The victim was not wearing a flotation device.

Fernando Aguilar was on the banks of the Catawba when his uncle was pulled from the river.

He told The Herald that Perez had been fishing on rocks in the river with his friend, Marcelo Mendoza Belasco, on Thursday. Aguilar said Belasco, who does not speak English, told him that at one point he turned to speak to his friend and he was not there.

"He didn't know how to swim," Aguilar said of his uncle. "He wasn't planning on going into the water. We don't know if he slipped. We don't know anything."

Howell sounded a cautionary note for the remainder of the holiday weekend.

"The things that make the river fun also make it dangerous," he said, referring to free-flowing water running over rocks, wildlife and other natural elements.

"All these things make it a great place, but they create hazards if you don't take the proper precautions."

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