Swimmers cry for help at Arizona lake, cops say. Then rescuers find their shoes
Witnesses heard swimmers in an Arizona lake crying for help before rescuers found their capsized kayak and later their bodies, authorities said.
People first heard the swimmers struggling in Lake Pleasant at about 7:45 p.m. Sunday, March 5, near the Roadrunner Campground, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Once rescuers got to the lake, they found only the swimmers’ inflatable kayak and two different shoes, deputies said.
They searched the water that night, stopped, then began looking for the swimmers again the next day.
On March 6, rescuers found the body of 28-year-old Christopher Govoni 55 feet underwater, deputies said.
The body of Rogelio Ortiz, 24, was found 100 feet away from Govoni, deputies said. He was also found 55 feet deep in the lake.
Investigators said their bodies were about 600 feet from the shore, and it appears they had been trying to swim to it after the kayak capsized.
They drowned before making it, deputies said.
The kayak wasn’t damaged, detectives found, and they continue to investigate.
Lake Pleasant is about 50 miles north of downtown Phoenix.
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