OAKLAND, Calif. - The family and friends of the three immigrant men who drowned while rescuing a boy from the delta in Sacramento are hoping to send their bodies back to their native Guatemala.Wendy Rivas of Oakland started a GoFundMe for her father Edwin "Guistillo" Rivas, 57, and his friends, Edwin Perez, 22, and Danilo Gutiérrez, 40.
All of them lived in Oakland, working jobs in construction. Friend William Ramos told KTVU that the men and other families vacationed together near Brannan Island every Fourth of July for camping and family fun.
The trio had been fishing Sunday near the Three Mile Slough Bridge in Sacramento County, when they saw an 8-year-old who was with their group struggling in the water.
They and two others jumped into the river and pulled the boy to safety, officials said. The boy had been wading into the water and got pulled away, and he wasn't wearing a life jacket.