UPDATE: The dive team has suspended it’s search for the missing man — identified as Isiah Sanchez — after citing zero visibility conditions. Divers had reached a depth of 80 feet and performed a search of the immediate area where the 22-year-old was last seen, but discovered nothing. “If conditions improve, the Sheriff’s Dive Team may be called in to search again,” said Sheriff’s spokesperson Kelly Hoover in a prepared statement. “In the meantime, County Park Rangers continue to do surface patrols of the area.”
ORIGINAL REPORT: Members of the Sheriff’s Office dive team and county park rangers continue to look for a 22-year-old man who went missing Friday evening while swimming in Lake Cachuma, according to Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Kelly Hoover. Around 8 p.m. on Friday, a visitor to the recreation area called 9-1-1, alerting authorities that a boat located about 50 yards offshore — near the north side of the Dakota Plains camping area — had a man waving his arms frantically and two other men nearby in the water.
County park rangers went to that location and rescued one of the men who had been struggling in the water but were unable to find the 22-year-old. Rangers, along with officers from County Fire and the Sheriff’s Office, looked for the man on land and in the water until approximately 10 p.m., when they had to stop due to poor visibility. Authorities restarted the search this morning, with the rangers operating the dive boat. Hoover said the part of the lake where the man was last seen reaches depths of about 80 feet.
The names of the three men — who Hoover said were camping together and reportedly had their boat suffer engine problems — aren’t being released. Why the two men were in the water remains unclear, Hoover said, adding that the 22-year-old may have been trying to swim to shore.
Boating at the lake is stopped during the search, but the Cachuma Lake Recreation Area, fully booked this weekend, is still open.