Search Scaled Back For Teen Who Went Over Nevada Fall

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK (CBS13) — Oleg Kalman was swimming about 150 feet from the edge of the waterfall when he got caught in a swift current. Less than a minute later, he was gone.

The 19-year-old is still missing in the cold, rough waters of the Merced River after he fell almost 600 feet over Nevada Fall.

"There are a lot of boulders, there's a lot of downed trees, there's a lot of terrain down there that can be seen as obstacles," said Kari Cobb with the National Park Service.

Oleg was hiking with several youth church groups from Sacramento on Saturday afternoon when they decided to stop at Nevada Fall. One of the group leaders says Oleg decided to go for a swim in a pond area at the top of the falls where other people were wading.

Witnesses say within moments, he was got in the current, fighting to gain control. As his friends and family watched in horror, he was pulled closer to the edge of the falls.

"We were all running down to where there's a bridge over the rapids," said Pete Tkachuk. "We were going to try to see if we could grab his hand, but he was moving too quick."