Divers search for missing man in lake
PALMDALE — Authorities searched Lake Palmdale for more than seven hours for a missing man Wednesday but halted the search as dusk drew near. They will resume the search today.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff ’s Department later identified the missing man as Robert Mercer, 34, who was last seen Tuesday arriving at the lake. He is possibly suicidal, the department said.
The Palmdale Sheriff’s Station received a call at 9:43 a.m. about an empty boat drifting in the middle of the lake, according to a post on the station’s Facebook page.
The vacant boat was anchored on the lake with fishing gear inside of it.
Multiple boaters who saw the boat unattended and anchored in the middle of the lake brought it to shore and called 911 to report a missing fisherman, said Carmen Mackey, a community services liaison with the L.A. County Fire Department.
Palmdale Sheriff’s Station deputies and Los Angeles County firefighters from the Fire Department’s Station 37 and Battalion 17 responded to the scene and determined they needed to conduct rescue operations. Helicopter units from the Fire Department and Sheriff’s Department also contributed to the search for the missing fisherman.
A Fire Department dive team from the lifeguard unit and the Urban Search and Rescue team responded in addition to a Sheriff’s Department dive team. Search teams also used sonar.
“The water is so cold that they can only stay down for like 10 or 15 minutes,” Mackey said. “They’re alternating dive teams right now and no body has been found yet.”
The Sheriff ’s Department’s Emergency Services Detail conducted a land search after the conclusion of the water search to see if they could the missing boater or any type of clues on the land surrounding the lake.
“They’ll do that at night using flashlights and scent dogs,” said Deputy Ronald Sneed of the Palmdale Sheriff ’s Station. “So there’s multiple scent dogs at the lake that they’ll be utilizing, and the water efforts will continue in the morning.”
There will be approximately 21 divers included with the Emergency Services Detail, jet skis, and helicopter units from the Fire Department and Sheriff ’s Department to search for the missing boater.
“We’ll be exhausting all the resources and tools that we have to locate the missing person,” Sneed said.
Mercer is described as six-feet-two-inches tall and weighing 350 pounds with short black hair, brown eyes and a goatee.
Lake Palmdale, a Palmdale Water District reservoir, is a local fishing lake only open to Palmdale Fin and Feather Club members and their guests. Members boats typically have an identification number on them. Members are also required to sign in and out. Lake Palmdale is approximately one mile long and half a mile across.