OTAY MESA (NEWS 8/CNS) - The search for a body reported by a fisherman in Upper Otay Lake was called off Wednesday morning after a thorough search by a Park Ranger dive team.
The sighting at the reservoir east of Chula Vista was reported shortly after 2 p.m. on Tuesday, according to police.
The report came from a fisherman who had seen something on his sonar equipment that resembled a body (see images to the left).
Patrol officers investigated and, unable to confirm or discount the report, called in city lifeguards. By the time the dive team got to the lake, however, it was getting too late for an effective underwater search, said Jose Ysea, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
A Park Ranger dive team returned Wednesday morning but called the search off before 11 a.m. after coming up empty. Divers scanned the lake bed by braille due to zero visibility caused by murky water.
Lt. Rich Stropkey with the San Diego Lifeguards said the fisherman who reported seeing a body was on a boat equipped with a side-scan sonar device that returned an image "consistent with what a body would look like" and lifeguards had no choice but to investigate.