After 10 days of searching, local law enforcement agents recovered from Cachuma Lake the body of 22-year-old Isaiah Sanchez on July 21.
Around midday, a group of people on a rented pontoon boat spotted what appeared to be a body in the water about 100 yards from where Sanchez was last seen and called 911. Park rangers, sheriff’s deputies, and a coroner’s detective responded. The body was transported by boat to the shore, where someone made a positive identification.
Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Kelly Hoover told the Sun in an email that Sanchez had been camping with friends at the lake.
According to a press release, on the evening of July 11, a visitor to the recreation area called 911 to report that there was a boat about 50 yards offshore, at the north end of the Dakota Plains camping area, with a man waving his arms in distress and two people in the water. Park rangers responded on a patrol boat and found a man struggling in the water. They were able to rescue him, but were unable to locate the second man.
“The boat had engine problems. Mr. Sanchez likely thought he could swim to shore, which did not appear that far away,” Hoover said in the email. “He jumped in the water and was swimming to shore when he ran into difficulty.”
She said another man jumped into the water to help him, but ended up having trouble as well.
The rangers continued to look for Sanchez on land and in the water with help from the Sheriff’s Department and the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
“The dive team searched the immediate area where Sanchez was last seen, which was approximately 80 feet deep,” Hoover said. “There was zero visibility in the water. The divers literally could not see their hands in front of their faces, nor were they able to read the gauges on their equipment, which is not safe. Due to the conditions in the water, divers were unable to continue searching, and the conditions never improved.”
The identities of the other two men involved aren’t being released at this time. The cause and manner of Sanchez’s death are pending the completion of the coroner’s investigation, which will include an autopsy and toxicology results.
This article appears in Jul 24-31, 2014.