No sign of missing teen's body after 2nd day of searching Lake Sonoma

Sonoma County authorities continued their search of Lake Sonoma on Sunday for signs of a 14-year-old Bay Area boy who fell off an inner tube and disappeared in the water a day earlier.

The sheriff’s patrol boat searched the lake surface for signs of the unidentified boy Sunday, sheriff’s Sgt. Ed Hoener said.

Divers were on standby for a deep water search today and, if necessary, Tuesday, he said.

“We are in recovery mode,” Hoener said. “Unfortunately, it’s no longer a rescue operation.”

The teen had been celebrating the Fourth of July with family members at the Lake Sonoma resort and marina in the lower part of the lake when he and his cousin, sharing an inner tube, floated away from the group across a deep channel Saturday afternoon.

Someone on a Jet Ski-like watercraft was towing them back across the water shortly before?4 p.m. when both teens fell off the inner tube. Only the cousin was able to swim ashore.

Neither was wearing a life jacket when they began the roughly quarter-mile trip back to the marina across a part of the lake that authorities said was up to 200 feet deep.

The teen, whose name has not been made public, disappeared beneath the surface of the water shortly before 4 p.m., authorities said.

The resort’s general manager said Saturday that the teen’s family had been coming to the lake for years.

It was not clear if he and his cousin knew the person who offered to tow them.

Also unknown is whether the missing teen could swim. Rick Herbert, owner of the Lake Sonoma Resort, said he understood the teen could not.

“Terrible, terrible tragic accident,” Herbert said Sunday. “I wish people would always wear their PFDs (personal flotation devices) while in the water swimming.

“Lakes are dangerous. Rivers are dangerous.”

The sheriff’s marine unit was already on patrol at the lake and was able to reach the search area quickly Saturday, but as the effort continued into the night, there was no sign of the teen.

It appeared the search Sunday was also unsuccessful. Sheriff’s officials had not reported recovering his body by 10 p.m.

The teen, presumed drowned, was the second person to die in Sonoma County waterways on Saturday.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.?callahan@pressdemocrat.com.