Divers can’t find swimmers’ bodies

Tuesday, July 23, 2002 | 9:37 a.m.

The National Park Service and the Nevada Division of Wildlife are investigating the disappearance of two Las Vegas men presumed drowned Monday at Lake Mead.

The two -- a father, 48, and his son, 17 -- were last seen swimming behind a rented pontoon near Memorial Overlook off Lakeshore Road in the afternoon.

The teen's mother and at least two other children remaining on the boat could not find the two men and called for help. The swimmers were not wearing life jackets, National Park Service spokeswoman Karla Norris said.

Park service divers responded to the scene about 1 p.m., Norris said. The lake in the area where the men disappeared is more than 150 feet deep.

"The divers went down to 65 feet and couldn't see anything," Norris said. To recover anyone deeper than 100 feet in the lake requires a decompression diving team, she said.

The next step will require a search using side scan sonar to help find the men.

The sonar has been used once before on the lake, to recover the body of Fred Caracciolo, 54, of Las Vegas, who was thrown from his boat near Callville Bay on April 13. His body was recovered on May 15 in 141 feet of water after a sonar scan, Norris said.

"Please tell people that these two men were not wearing life jackets," Norris said.

It will take several days for a sonar team to arrive at the lake from out of state, she said.

In another accident earlier this year, two visitors from Switzerland collided as they rode personal watercraft near Ann Margaret's Cove near Overton Beach. The men, who were both wearing life jackets, survived.

So far this year there have been 10 deaths within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, including Monday's presumed drownings.

Three people, including the two missing men, have died by drowning, two people died of natural causes, two were suicides and three were killed in traffic accidents, Norris said.