West Columbia man drowns in Congaree River Sunday morning

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — A West Columbia man drowned in the Congaree River in downtown Columbia Sunday morning. Emergency crews were able to rescue his friend. The Richland County Coroner has identified the victim as James Hutto Jr, 31, of West Columbia. Columbia Fire Deptment Captain Brick Lewis tells ABC Columbia they first received reports of people in the water in the area around the canal spillway at 11:30 p.m. Saturday night. They were able to locate Hutto’s friend, who was uninjured, fairly quickly. Captain Lewis says they closed the Gervais Street Bridge in both directions while crews searched for the other person. After looking downstream, they returned to the area below the spillway and above the Gervais Street Bridge. A helicopter from SLED assisted. Officials say around 2:30 a.m Sunday., Richland County Sheriff’s Office dive teams found Hutto’s body. The West Columbia Fire Department, Cayce Public Safety, Columbia Police Department, Richland Co. Sheriff’s Office and SLED helped in the search effort.