WINCHESTER — The body of a 52-year-old Lynn man was recovered from Upper Mystic Lake Tuesday morning after he fell off an inflatable float and “went beneath the water” Monday evening, State Police said.
Alford Garcia was witnessed going under the water off Shannon Beach at approximately 5:50 p.m. Monday, David Procopio, a spokesman for State Police said in an email. An investigation by State Police detectives assigned to the Middlesex district attorney’s office revealed that Garcia attempted to swim back to shore after falling off the float but became tired and began to struggle in the water before going under.
Witnesses attempted to rescue Garcia but couldn’t locate him. State Police divers and patrols, Environmental Police officers, and personnel from the Winchester and Stoneham Fire and Police Departments conducted an “extensive search mission” until late Monday evening but failed to locate Garcia, Procopio said.
On Tuesday morning, State Police divers deployed a side-scan sonar device, which detects anomalies or objects underwater. The device detected an image at a depth of about 13 feet in an area with “practically zero visibility to the human eye,” Procopio said. After divers dove onto the targeted image, they determined it was Garcia’s body and recovered him.
The area in which Garcia was on the float was posted as an unsupervised area, Procopio said.
State police detectives assigned to the office of Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan are currently investigating this incident. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will conduct a post-mortem examination of Garcia’s body.
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected].
