Diver finds GoPro containing recording of man's final moments two years after his death

A man who died in 2017 had GoPro footage of his final moments found two years later.

22-year-old Richard Ragland tragically drowned under a waterfall a few days before his 23rd birthday.

He had been at Foster Falls State Park, Tennessee with friends, went swimming underneath the waterfall and never came back up again.

By all accounts he had been a strong swimmer, but the force of a waterfall can ensnare even the best and result in them getting in trouble.

Richard's parents were left wondering what had happened to their son, and park rangers had sent them what was supposed to be a drive with footage of the 22-year-old, but when they opened the parcel they discovered someone had stolen the contents.

It wasn't until later that they got to see more of their son's final moments after getting an unexpected call from a from a YouTuber named Rich Aloha.

Richard Ragland died in 2017. (WSB-TV)

"He actually found Richard's GoPro camera," the man's parents Robin and Gary McCrear told WSB-TV.

Treasure hunter Aloha had been diving in the area to see what he could find, and had been told by park rangers about Richard Ragland's death.

Rich opened up the camera and found the SD card was amazingly still in there, and better still it was working.

Referring to what happened as an 'out of body experience', he said: "I was going through the footage and I said, 'Oh my God, this is the guy."

Rich then went online and began researching how to get in touch with the family, eventually finding a number and arranging to take the footage to them.

"I'm glad I found it, personally, because I try to do the right thing and get the item back to the rightful owner," Rich said.

YouTuber Rich Aloha ended up finding the GoPro two years after Richard's death. (WSB-TV/ABC)

The McCrears said at the time that they hadn't seen all of the footage on the card, but what they had seen showed their son enjoying himself.

"What we've seen so far is Rich being Rich, living life to the fullest," Robin said.

The family were grateful to the YouTube vlogger for helping provide some answers as to what had happened to their son just days before his 23rd birthday.

Robin added: "For him to go through his efforts to do his research, make numerous phone calls, he didn't give up until he got in touch with us and that means the world to us."

Additional words by Jess Hardiman.

Topics: US News