Dead men don't float

Two California men have been charged in federal court with using the identities of dead or fictitious people to get permits to raft the Grand Canyon.

Stephen E. Savage, 61, of Diamond Bar, Calif., was in federal court in Flagstaff, Ariz., Tuesday, according to the AP. He was held on 11 counts of fraudulently obtaining rafting permits. He was arrested Sunday by National Park Service agents at Lee’s Ferry, where many people start their rafting trips.

Timothy J. O’Shaughnessy, 45, of Whitewater, Calif., was arrested in California on Monday and turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service on the same charges, all misdemeanors.

Officials said an anonymous tip lead them to the men after someone heard one of the men bragging about his deeds. In one example, he used the permit given to a man who had died while waiting for it to be granted. More than 7,000 people are on the waiting list to raft through the canyon.