Search For Drowning Victim Ends

After a three-day recovery operation, the search for Friday’s drowning victim on Big Bear Lake ended unsuccessfully at 2:00pm Sunday, July 5.  The victim has not been found. On the afternoon of July 3, a 33-year-old male was swimming with several others off a rented pontoon boat in a water depth of 27 feet. The swimmers began struggling at one point and all but the victim returned to the boat. He was thrown a flotation device, and when that failed, another member of his party made two attempts to pull him from the lake. A Municipal Water District pontoon served as a platform for a dive team to operate sonar equipment. In total, four to six Lake Patrol officers and two maintenance workers assisted in the operation, with the use of Fawnskin Fire Station 49’s fire boat. Big Bear residents and visitors are reminded to wear lifejackets or use flotation devices in the water.
Update: The drowning victim has since been identified as a resident of Alhambra, though his name has not yet been released. Rescue crews over the weekend included Lake Patrol and other staff from the Big Bear Municipal Water District, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department (including helicopters and rescue diving teams) and firefighters from County Fire’s station #49 in Fawnskin; the Big Bear City Fire Department was also on scene.
– posted by CS Monday morning
Update: As of Wednesday, July 8, the body of the deceased has not yet been located.
Updated information available in July 9 posting.