WINCHESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - The Massachusetts State Police have identified a man who drowned in Winchester’s Upper Mystic Lake on July 4th.
The man, Alford Garcia, 52, of Lynn, was on an inflatable float shortly before 6 p.m. near Shannon Beach when he fell off. Garcia was seen going under the water at that time. The current investigation by State Police detectives assigned to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office suggests that he attempted to swim to shore but became tired and started struggling in the water, eventually submerging in the water.
Witnesses attempted to save Garcia but couldn’t find him. After that, Environmental Police officers, State Police divers and patrols and Stoneham and Winchester Fire and Police personnel searched for him until late into the night on July 4th but couldn’t find him.
On Tuesday morning, State Police divers deployed a sonar device that found an image in a 13-foot-deep area of water with almost no visibility to the human eye. Divers investigated and found and recovered his body. The area where Garcia was swimming was posted as an unsupervised area.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing by the State Police detectives assigned to the Middlesex County DA’s office. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will conduct a post-mortem examination.
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