Santa Cruz Sheriff confirms body was found related to Watsonville missing teen
WATSONVILLE, Calif. (KION-TV) -- The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's office said they have found a body near where a Watsonville teen was reported missing, this after days of searching. A member of the volunteer search team said the muddy terrain near the lake made the search difficult.
An unfortunate conclusion to days of searching for fifteen-year-old Nicholas Magaña-Zamora.
“Ultimately, with our search concluding on July 27, Sunday in the late morning when we located a decedent in the college lake,” said Sergeant Jacob Pruger with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office.
The person found dead has not yet officially been identified as Nicholas. The search team, however, found enough details to believe it to be him.
“We basically exhausted any resources. We used helicopters, we used cadaver dogs, we used the agency's dive teams. So, with the help of all these agencies, unfortunately, we came to the tragic conclusion,” Pruger adds.
It was near College Lake that authorities found a body Sunday. Members of a volunteer dive and rescue team describe the efforts they provided and the zones they focused on while searching for Nicholas Magaña Zamora.
“Eso se convirtió en lodo y usted se pisaba y tentaban hasta los tobillos en el barro.”
Juan Heredia, a volunteer with the non-profit Angel's Recovery Dive Team, says the lake's depth was shallow and extremely muddy, making the search difficult.
He says they searched over the weekend, but ultimately it was the sheriff's K-9 team that found the body. From a distance, he recalls similar clothing to that Nicholas was wearing when he went missing on July 23.
The Sheriff's office says that is all the information they can provide at this time. They add that no foul play was ever suspected during this incident and appreciate the help of all agencies.
On Sunday, we were able to speak with members of the victims' families. They say they are devastated and ask for a bit of privacy at this time as they mourn the loss of their loved one. They also appreciate and thank the community for all of their efforts.
