From several years paddling whitewater, I completely agree with you
@MissySki about the choice of partners. And that decision involves not just skill set, but general temperament and group dynamic. I (rightly) felt great pressure to be at the top of my rescue game when paddling with others. And I knew the little quirks of members of my group to be able to absorb and adjust to them. If something goes wrong in whitewater, there are very few circumstances in which self-rescue is an option; you rely on others.
With that said, I do a lot of solo stuff that other people sometimes disapprove of, so I can offer maybe that perspective. The victim sounds from local forum chatter as though he was very experienced. He may have been carrying a beacon so that he could be located by rescuers, knowing well that they would likely not arrive in time in the case of a burial, but making it possible to ultimately locate him and save rescue personnel time and effort. In other words, a person with that level of experience who went into Raymond Cataract was probably making an informed and calculated choice.
I don't mean to sound grim, just to say that the chances/choices that others are willing to take might not be our own, but that doesn't make them ill-informed (and I'm not saying you suggested that, it's just what pops up in comment sections most readily in these sorts of events).
Me, I'm old and don't have kids or a spouse. My cat is kind of a jerk, but I know he'd be taken care of if I died. That's not to say that I maximize risk-taking, just that dying in the outdoors isn't the worst thing that could happen to me, and I wouldn't want people to wring their hands if it happened. It could happen in the frontcountry, backcountry, driving to the trailhead, etc.