The Mesa County Coroner's Office says 36–year–old Bradley Dial of Grand Junction drowned while swimming in the Gunnison River near the roller dam in Orchard Mesa.

He was swimming when he went under and didn't come back up.

Investigators say he was not wearing a life jacket.

Rescuers recovered his body just after 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Dial's family is grieving and say to them Bradley was more than just a man, he was a father, a brother and an uncle.

His niece spoke to 11 News and the community about what happened so this doesn't happen to anyone else.

While investigators were still trying to figure out how dial drowned at the Roller Dam his family was wondering more than how, they’re wondering why.

They were on the beach grieving Wednesday but took time to send a message to the community.

“He had enormous heart, he was such a caring guy,” says Dial’s niece, Ashlee.

She was at the riverfront where her uncle took his last steps, hugging family members and sharing memories on Wednesday.

“It's definitely hard,” she says.

She got a frantic call Tuesday that her Uncle Bradley was lost in the river.

She got there to find Search and Rescue looking in the water.

Then she got the news that he was gone.

“When they first told us it was like there's no way it can't be,” Ashlee says. “And after it sunk in it was like he's gone and I don't have an uncle anymore.”

Deputy Tim Orr has seen one too many grieving families in his time running the water rescue team.

“It's real easy to get yourself caught in undertow or on debris and get sucked under the water,” Orr says.

He says areas near dams are especially dangerous because of the currents.

“The water swirls underneath there so if you get caught in that without a life vest or some kind of flotation device it's gonna suck you under to the bottom of that,” he says.

Orr says a life jacket might have saved Bradley Dial's life, something Ashlee will always think about from now on.

“Even if it's ankle deep water you never know where a drop off is in the water you can't see it,” she says.

Her message to the community: wear a life jacket.

And the message to her uncle: you will not be forgotten.

“We will always love him,” she says.

The Dial family says it may not be able to afford a funeral.

To donate to Bradley Dial's memorial fund, call or go to any Bank of Colorado in the Grand Valley and ask for the Gail Street account, in memory of Bradley.