Updated at 11:53 p.m.
A 21-year-old man from Burlington died on Saturday after leaping from rocks at the Bolton Potholes, Vermont State Police said in a press release.
At about 12:30 p.m., police received a 911 call about a swimmer at the Bolton Potholes who went underwater and did not resurface.
Members of the Bolton, Richmond fire department, Richmond Rescue, Colchester Technical Rescue and Stowe Mountain Rescue responded to help in the search for the missing swimmer.
They found him around 2:30 p.m.and pronounced him dead. He was identified as Cody Surprise, 21, of Burlington.
Witnesses said Surprise had jumped from one of the rock ledges into a pool of water. The current was strong and the river was rapidly flowing at the time, according to the report.
Located east of the Bolton Valley Access Road, the Bolton Potholes are a popular swimming hole with cascading waterfalls, but there have been concerns about safety there and at other Vermont swimming holes. As of 2013, according to the state Department of Health, at least five people had died at Bolton Potholes.
Public access to the property is managed by the Vermont River Conservancy, which in 2018 worked to acquire it from private landowners.
“Bolton is a small town that does not have sufficient resources to police the locations where the general public comes to recreate,” said Andrew Pond, a member of the Bolton Selectboard, in an email to VTDigger on Sunday.
