WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — The search for two missing boaters believed to have drowned came to a close Monday afternoon when search and recovery crews located the bodies of two men in Lake Eloise.
After nearly 48 hours of searching, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd delivered the sad update during a news conference Monday evening. The two men were identified earlier as 30-year-old Orlando Ortiz and 34-year-old Jeffrey Marrero. Marrero was found first at around 1:30 p.m. and Ortiz was located a couple of hours later.
Judd said the two men were found underwater about 300 to 400 yards away from where the boat was initially located. The area where they were was about 16 feet deep. The men were about 150 yards apart. During the search, rescue crews took into account the depth, water temperature, current and chop to locate the missing boaters.
"If this had been the middle of the summer, we would have found them quicker because they would’ve floated quicker," Judd said. "But we could not have searched for them anymore diligently in the summer than we did now."
Judd further explained that the lake was massive and the search crews had only narrowed the search area down to about half the lake.
Crews searched the lake with four watercraft from the sheriff's office along with sonar equipment and help from the Florida Wildlife Conversation Commission. The Seminole County Sheriff's Office was also available to lend a helping hand with search efforts.
Once a crew found the men underwater, Seminole County Sheriff's Office's underwater drone was used to confirm it was the two men, Judd said.
The lake is still closed to the public while all other lakes on the chain remain open. Lake Eloise is expected to re-open once law enforcement officials clear the area.
Anyone launching a boat onto Lake Summit won't be allowed through the canal leading to Lake Eloise. All boats will have to remain on Lake Summit until further notice.
According to Judd, the pair jumped into the water to save Vlecky Velasquez, 38, who began to "struggle" in the water after incorrectly anchoring their rented boat that was in the middle of the lake.
Velasquez and Ortiz were celebrating their one-year anniversary and had invited Marrero and his two daughters, ages 10 and 8, out on the water with them.
"Once the men jump into the water, their boat begins to drift away with the children inside," Judd said. "When the men begin to realize the boat is floating away, they begin to swim toward the boat."
Judd said the two men were "average swimmers" and Velasquez was a better swimmer. "At some point in time when they can't catch the boat, Ms. Velasquez says she sees them struggling to stay above the water," Judd said.
The sheriff said Velasquez was able to save herself by floating on her back. Meanwhile, the boat is still floating further away, and Marrero's 10-year-old daughter calls 911.
Deputies were able to save Velasquez and the children, whose boat had drifted into a swamp area.
10 Tampa Bay's BriShon Mitchell contributed to this report.