Search still on for three thought dead at Lake Mead

Wednesday, July 24, 2002 | 9:38 a.m.

A search for three men who are missing and presumed drowned in Lake Mead continued this morning, with park rangers using special monitors to scan deep water for evidence.

The National Park Service and the Nevada Division of Wildlife are investigating the disappearance of the men, all from Las Vegas.

Two -- a father, 48, and his son, 17 -- were seen swimming behind a rented pontoon boat near Memorial Overlook off Lakeshore Road on Sunday afternoon, National Park Service spokeswoman Karla Norris said. A third Las Vegas resident, 40, was reported missing Monday. Their names have not been released.

None of the swimmers was wearing a life jacket, Norris said.

Park service divers responded to the boat where the father and son disappeared about 1 p.m. on Sunday, Norris said. The area is over 150 feet deep.

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

Side scan 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.

In another accident earlier this year, two visitors from Switzerland collided with each other as they rode personal watercraft near Ann Margaret's Cove near Overton Beach. Both men survived because they wore life jackets, Norris said.

So far this year there have been 11 deaths within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, including the three latest presumed drownings.

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