Lake Tahoe crews find missing man’s body 1,500 feet underwater

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — The body of a New Jersey man who went missing in California’s Lake Tahoe in mid-August was recovered more than 1,500 feet underwater, officials said.

Authorities began a missing person investigation on Aug. 10 after a boat rented by 29-year-old Ryan Normolye of Closter, New Jersey, washed ashore in Glenbrook, Nevada without him in it, KCRA-TV reported.

Search crews found Normolye’s approximate location using his phone’s GPS data, but his body wasn’t found until Sept. 26, officials said Monday. First responders from Tahoe’s police and fire departments, the Douglas County Sheriff’s and the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office started another search operation after Normolye’s family enlisted the help of Bruce’s Legacy.

Bruce’s Legacy is a nonprofit organization that specializes in underwater body recoveries.

Normolye’s body was 1,565 feet underwater when crews pulled him out Sept. 27, officials said. Keith Cormican, founder of Bruce’s Legacy, said this is the deepest recorded recovery in the United States and Canada.

Officials believe Normolye might have drowned failing to catch up to his boat he jumped off, which was left slightly in gear, moving forward at a slow speed. His phone had a recording of him jumping off.