Recovery efforts came to a sad end Friday for a man who drowned in the Wisconsin River near Memorial Park in Wausau. That man is Dominic Flaminio, 41, from Rothschild.
Rescue crews pulled Flaminio’s body from the water at about 11:15 a.m. on Friday, according to police.
At about 1:43 p.m. Thursday, Flaminio, his girlfriend of 11 years and her two children (an 8 year old boy and an 11 year old girl) boated to a sandbar in the Wisconsin River near Memorial Park, according to a Wausau Police Department news release. The boy went into deeper water as he was swimming near the sandbar and started to get swept away by the fast-moving current. He was not wearing a life preserver.
Flaminio attempted to swim after the boy to rescue him but went under and did not emerge from the water. The boy’s 11 year old sister, who was wearing a life preserver, was able to get to her brother. She held on to him until Wausau Fire Department personnel could rescue them after the children’s mother had called 9-1-1.
The children were taken to St. Clare’s Hospital to be evaluated and they were later released.
Alcohol and drugs do not appear to be a factor in this incident.
The Wausau Fire Department, Marathon County Sheriff’s Office, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Wausau Police Department are the agencies involved in the rescue and recovery efforts.
