Underwater ROV locates bodies of man missing in Lake Tahoe and boy in Stampede Reservoir

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The body of Dan Pham, the man missing in Lake Tahoe after a kayaking trip, has been found by an underwater search team just a few days after they found the body of 11-year-old Marcos Vasquez.

On June 8, 2017, Pham, whose full name is Pham Dan Vu Thanh, called a friend at 9:15 a.m. to tell him he was going kayaking and camping in the Lester Beach area. As of 6:15 p.m. that evening there had been no word from Dan.

An extensive search effort was conducted by El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue (SAR), El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office Marine unit, California State Parks, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office SAR, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Marine unit, United States Coast Guard, and Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.

During this search, SAR K9 teams located an area of interest off Rubicon Point, but Pham was not located.

Bruce's Legacy, a non-profit group from Wisconsin, arrived in Lake Tahoe to assist in the search with their high-tech side scan sonar, Tow Fish sonar. On July 31 they found the body of UNR football player in Lake Tahoe after he'd been missing since a June 10 paddle boarding trip.

On Saturday, August 26, the Tow Fish sonar, an underwater remote operating vehicle (ROV), located the body of Pham in 245 feet of water off of Rubicon Point, in the area of K9 alerts.

The Pham family was extremely grateful for the efforts made by everyone and thankful their loved one can be put to rest. "The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office extends our deepest condolences to the Pham family," EDSO said in a press release.

The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office Coroner Division and South Lake Tahoe Detectives are handling this investigation.

A few days earlier, the Bruce's Legacy team found the body of young Markos Vasquez of Carson City in Stampede Reservoir. Vasquez had been canoeing on July 10, 2017 with his family when winds caused the boat to capsize. A 14-year-old on the canoe was retrieved safely from the water but Vazquez could not be found.

Bruce's Legacy is named after a firefighter in Wisconsin who was lost during a water rescue. Since they formed, the team has located 18 bodies, enabling families to have closure.