Man feared dead after boat flips over at Lopez Lake
Rescue crews were unable to find a man who may have drowned in Lopez Lake on Thursday, according to Cal Fire spokesman Chris Elms.
Authorities responded to a 911 call at 2:20 p.m. after a boat flipped over with three people inside. Elms said he did not know how the boat flipped.
#LakeIC (Final)rescue search called off. No victim found. Incident turned over to @SLOSheriff for further search/recovery. pic.twitter.com/16RYZmEk7P
— CAL FIRE SLO (@CALFIRE_SLO) June 22, 2017
All three boaters began swimming toward the shore, Elms said, and two of them were wearing life jackets. The man who was not wearing a life jacket “was having a hard time” swimming back to shore, went under the water, and was not seen again.
Elms said 10 rescue swimmers, a CHP H-70 helicopter, San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s deputies and Cal Fire assisted with the search.
The search was called off about 4:20 p.m., and the investigation was turned over to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office for “further search/recovery,” according to a Cal Fire SLO tweet.
Engines responding to a possible drowning at Lopez Lake. more to follow
— CAL FIRE SLO (@CALFIRE_SLO) June 22, 2017
Lucas Clark: 805-781-7915, @LucasClark_SLO
This story was originally published June 22, 2017 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Man feared dead after boat flips over at Lopez Lake."