Geordan White was 60 years old and lived in Redding, California. That Friday in September, he was boating on Lake Shasta when his dog jumped into the water from the moving boat.
He didn’t hesitate. White jumped in after the animal, near the buoys marking the low-speed zone, with the sole intention of bringing it back. But something in the water changed everything: he began to feel ill, shouted for help, and someone from the boat threw him a flotation device. He managed to hold on for a moment. Then he let go and sank without resurfacing.
Divers from the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, along with CAL FIRE and the Forest Service, found his body that same afternoon. The dog, by contrast, got out of the water without a scratch. The community of musicians in Redding, where White was known, is still trying to understand how an act of love ended in tragedy.
