Body Of Missing Swimmer Pulled From Lake Travis

AUSTIN, TX -- Travis County Sheriff's Office officials confirmed that a body was recovered Tuesday from Lake Travis, possibly that of a man who drowned there over the weekend.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Kristen Dark told Patch in a telephone interview that the body of an adult male was discovered at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. She said the man's body was spotted by family members who have stayed at the lake since his disappearance on Friday in the hopes of finding their loved one.

Although she wasn't able to confirm the man's identity pending an official ruling by the medical examiner's office, the victim's family members have released his name via social media. Family members identified the man as Olman Ramirez.

The sheriff's spokeswoman noted that law enforcement personnel were waiting for the arrival of cadaver-smelling dogs Tuesday morning to resume the search -- following surface and underwater searches that took place over the weekend and on Monday. But as the canines were en route, the family reported having found the body, Dark said.

"This is a tough one to communicate to you," she told Patch, referencing the family's grim find. "At 10:43 a.m., we got a call about a body found at the south marina shore. The family members found the body."

The man was first reported missing at about 7:30 p.m. this past Friday. After futile searches, emergency personnel later said the mission had turned from a rescue one to one of recovery.

According to a preliminary investigation, Ramirez was on a party boat with five other people when one of the revelers fell into the lake, Dark said. Another boat happened by, and the people on that other watercraft were able to scoop the man out of the water.

But Ramirez -- who had been tapped as the evening's designated driver -- never resurfaced after he dove in to try to help his friend, Dark said.

Dark said stronger-than-normal winds ahead of a line of thunderstorms that continued into Monday may have contributed to the drowning, given its effects on the currents. Lake Travis already is particularly treacherous given accumulated debris still presents from strong storms earlier this year, Dark noted.

The storms-fueled debris add to the dangers of a lake with sudden and unexpected slopes among the underwater dynamics of its topography. A person in two feet of water there might suddenly find himself in ten feet of water in a single step, Dark said.

The accumulated debris led state officials to implement a boat ban at Lake Travis in early June. That prohibition on watercraft has since been lifte.

Other recent drownings have occurred at Lake Travis in the past couple of months alone:

• On June 11, Travis County Sheriff's Office officials got a call about another person who went missing at Lake Travis after falling from a party barge. Brian Robinson, 31, of White Plains, N.Y. was later pulled from the water six days later.
• On July 2, a two-year-old girl drowned after falling off a dock into Lake Travis. The child fell off a boat dock at a private residence in the 8000 block of Lakeview St. in the early evening before being found drowned.

The sheriff's spokeswoman also noted the abundance of people at Lake Travis adds to the challenges. Already a popular destination for lake fans, the destination is particularly popular during the summer. That popularity sometimes wreaks havoc: On July 3, a boat collision at Lake Travis led to the injury of ten people. The boat's driver later was charged with boating while intoxicated.