Family mourns loss of brothers who drowned at Percha Dam State Park
A family is devastated after two brothers drowned at Percha Dam State Park over the weekend.
According to New Mexico State Police, 34-year-old Gabino Porras and his 17-year-old brother, Cosme Romero, died after being swept away in the current.
Their brother, Gus Porras tells ABC-7 the family is still in shock. He was on the phone with his mother while the incident unfolded within 5 to 10 minutes.
Porras says Gabino was from Rio Rancho and Cosme was from Deming. Cosme, he says, played defensive line on the Deming High School football team and was named prom king just last year.
“(He was) literally an angel down here on earth,” Porras said.
According to Porras, Gabino leaves behind two young children and a wife. He described the 34-year-old as outgoing and kind-hearted.
“He literally just came out grabbed life right by the horns and just took it for everything he could,” Porras said.
Porras says what happened on Saturday was a tragic accident.
According to New Mexico State Police, the brothers tied a rope around their waist and attempted to cross a spillway runoff when Gabino slipped.
A family member told ABC-7 the brothers had already made it across the spillway and were making their way back to the riverbank when the incident occurred.
Porras says the family jumped into the water to save them and managed to get a rope out to them. But Cosme, Porras says, didn’t want to let go of his brother and held onto him until the very end.
