More than two months after he disappeared in Montana’s Flathead Lake during a training mission for a transatlantic rowing expedition, James “Dingo” Dominguez’s body has been found.
“It’s with a heavy but grateful heart that I share: my brother James, lovingly known as Dingo, was found on September 23rd and recovered the following day,” wrote his twin brother, Jerry Dominguez, in an October 2 update posted to the family’s GoFundMe page.
Dominguez — a 58-year-old Marine Corps veteran, endurance athlete, and longtime Santa Barbara local — went missing on July 15 after a sudden storm overturned the boat he and his teammates were using to prepare for a November ocean crossing. Two members of the team were rescued and treated for hypothermia. Dingo was pulled away by the water and didn’t resurface.
The storm that hit Flathead Lake that day was described by local officials as one of the most violent in recent memory. Delays in the initial search were compounded by dangerous conditions. In the weeks that followed, as county resources began to pull back, the Dominguez family took on the search themselves — bringing in volunteers, civilian divers, underwater drones, and specialists like Gene and Sandy Ralston, known for their private search and recovery work.
It was Ralston and the Lake County Search and Rescue team who ultimately located and recovered James’s body. “The waiting, the not knowing — it’s been a weight that words can’t quite capture,” Jerry wrote. “But now, we have him home.”
Jerry and the twins’ sister traveled to Montana in early October to accompany James back to Santa Barbara.
A rosary service for Dominguez is being held today, October 23, at St. Raphael Church in Goleta. A memorial mass will follow tomorrow morning at the same location. Full military honors will be conducted in the Santa Barbara Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to the Wounded Warrior Project in honor of Sgt. James Dominguez, USMC.
