Body of missing man pulled from Hopkinton lake

HOPKINTON — Authorities recovered the body of a 21-yearold Hopkinton man from Lake Maspenock Saturday morning, roughly 12 hours after he was reported missing while out for a swim Friday night, according to the fire department.

Wilinson J. Orbequito went for a swim with a friend at the town’s Sandy Beach and when the friend returned to shore at about 8 p.m., as storms were sweeping through the area, he saw that the victim had not come back onto the beach, said Tom Zuppa, a fire department spokesperson.

The friend called 911, and Hopkinton firefighters and police, along with divers from the Massachusetts Fire District 14 Technical Rescue Team, launched a search.

The firefighters used sonarequipped rescue boats in their efforts and had help from Natick and Westborough fire crews, according to Zuppa.

The swimmers had gone beyond the safe-swimming zone limits set up at the beach and went further into the lake, Zuppa said.

A battery of thunderstorms interrupted the search several times that night before efforts were paused around midnight, according to a fire department statement.

Gary Daugherty, the town’s interim fire chief, said in the statement they decided to stop and resume the search Saturday due to safety concerns.

“We faced a number of obstacles during the search, including limited visibility and thick weeds in the lake,” Daugherty said. “We decided around midnight to halt the recovery effort and will return in the morning when conditions are safer.”

Hopkinton firefighters and police returned to the scene at about 6:15 a.m. and were joined by the District 14 dive team at about 7 a.m., according to Zuppa. Crews were also assisted by a K-9 unit from the Auburn Fire Department, he said.

The man’s body was found in about 12 feet of water roughly 90 feet from the shoreline, Zuppa said.

The swimming area was cordoned off with buoys and rope. Zuppa said the body was found near that barrier.

Orbequito’s family was notified about the search Friday, Zuppa said, but there was a language barrier between first responders and the family, who speak Spanish. That did not impede the search, however, he said.

“The language issue had been about communication with the family about what is going on,” Zuppa said.

About two dozen people gathered at the beach Sunday morning to mourn the victim.

People sat at picnic tables with their heads in their hands. Several clustered in small groups, speaking softly to one another. A few people dabbed their eyes with tissues while a young girl played nearby.

Through a translator, relatives of Orbequito declined to speak to a reporter.

The beach is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the summer, and a lifeguard was on duty Friday until 5 p.m., Zuppa said.

“Swim at your own risk,” said an English-language sign. “No lifeguard on duty.”

A smaller sign, displayed a few dozen feet away from the beach near the women’s restroom, was the only apparent notification about the water’s depth. “Warning deep shelving beach,” the sign said in English.

Nearby, an emergency call box had a handwritten message taped to it, and it was the only sign written in both English and Spanish. “Emergency do not press,” the message said.

Several signs at the beach notify users that the area is under video surveillance, and a camera appears to be pointed at Sandy Beach.

The storm took the town’s public-safety communications system offline for about 30 minutes Friday night, Zuppa said. Hopkinton’s police and fire departments “do not believe anything was captured by the camera,” he said.

Maureen Hart, who has lived with her husband in the neighborhood for nearly 30 years, described a massive response by police and firefighters from Hopkinton and several nearby towns Friday night.

As rescuers tried to find the missing swimmer, severe storms that came through the area unleashed thunder and lightning, according to Hart.

The neighborhood looks out onto the lake, which is normally crowded with boaters and swimmers, Hart said.

She expressed sympathies for Orbequito’s family, who she saw come to the neighborhood Saturday.

“It’s such a solemn attitude here today on the lake,” Hart said. “It’s so quiet.”