Authorities have identified the man who was swept away and killed by the Nueces River near Uvalde as 25-year-old ranch manager Fred Antone Peters VI.
Peters managed the 501 Ranch near Uvalde and, according to a funeral home obituary, was “never happier than when he was outside.”
Volunteer firefighters responded around 4:30 p.m. Saturday to the FM 481 bridge crossing after receiving a report that a person had gone underwater and failed to resurface. Search crews later recovered Peters’ body downstream, according to a fire department Facebook post.
Flooding caused the FM 481 bridge southwest of Uvalde to collapse July 17 after the Nueces River rose to 28 feet.
Peters was born in Lincoln, Missouri, and moved with his family to Hawley, north of Abilene, in 2011. A year later, they relocated to Montgomery, Tennessee, where he played sports, found a church community and served as president of his high school’s FFA chapter.
After graduating from high school, Peters returned to Texas to attend Texas A&M University-Kingsville, where he studied ranch and wildlife management. According to his obituary, the degree helped him land his dream job at the 501 Ranch.
Ranch owners remembered Peters as their “right hand man” in a Facebook post mourning his death, describing him as a dedicated and knowledgeable member of the team who “always wanted everyone around him to have the best time.”
Outside of work, Peters raised game birds with his best friend through their business, F&R Wild Wings.
Family members described him as “a true steward” of the land.
“Fred was never happier than when he was outside — hunting, fishing, out on the river or the ocean, or tending to his many animals,” his obituary says. “He cared for the ground beneath him and the creatures on it with the same devotion he gave to the people in his life, always working to leave a place better than he found it.”
A funeral service is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday at the 501 Ranch. The family also plans memorial services in Tennessee and Missouri.