A Drowning Investigation Is Underway At New Melones Lake

CCSO archive photo

Calaveras County, CA – Calaveras County Sheriff’s officials have confirmed to Clarke Broadcasting that a drowning investigation is underway at New Melones Lake.

Sheriff’s spokesperson Chad Poortinga tells us that a missing swimmer is a man from Europe who was not a resident of Calaveras County but visiting family in the area. He added that a call came into sheriff’s dispatch on Wednesday, June 14th, around 5 p.m., regarding a possible drowning. Since then, Poortinga noted that “comprehensive search efforts have been ongoing, with the dive teams utilizing specialized techniques and equipment to meticulously search the waters of the reservoir.”

Some of that equipment came from Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Boat Patrol, as spokesperson Ashley Boujikian told us Calaveras sheriff’s officials asked for their boat with sonar and a drone to fly over the area of the lake where the man was last seen.

Poortinga also detailed that the man had used the boat’s onboard slide to get into the water and then drifted away from the boat. He added that as the man was swimming back to the boat, “he began experiencing fatigue and encountered difficulty while swimming.” It was then that he disappeared into the water.

The search efforts are ongoing and include the assistance of several allied agencies: the Calaveras County Marine Safety Division, the Calaveras County Sheriff Dive Team, the Tuolumne and Amador County Marine Safety Divisions, Rangers from the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Calaveras Search and Rescue Canine Unit.