Search on for missing person in South Lake Tahoe

5 p.m. Update:

The missing paddle boarder has not been located according to the South Lake Tahoe Police Department. During the search of Lake Tahoe where the standup paddle was discovered, investigators have located what is believed to be the paddle associated with the board in about eight feet of water. In the area where the board was discovered there exists a drop off from relatively shallow water (about 20 feet) to an area of the lake which is several hundred feet deep. Any chance of a successful visual search of deep water will be impossible. Today’s windy conditions on Lake Tahoe have diminished visibility, making the search difficult for investigators. A lake wind advisory is forecasting wind gusts up to 40 mph this afternoon and evening. A USGS vessel continued the search this afternoon while other supporting law enforcement vessels had to suspend the search for the day due to winds.

On the missing person’s GoPro camera was a video selfie taken at the top of the Heavenly Ski Resort. With the help of the resort, SLTPD discovered that the missing person had a photograph taken by a Heavenly camera while he was in the company of another unidentified man on the gondola. Investigators discovered other photographs of this same man from the memory card of the missing person’s recovered GoPro camera. These appear likely to have been taken in the Tahoe area.

SLTPD hopes that local lodging properties and tourist based businesses will recognize one, or both, of the men in the photos.

Included on the GoPro camera are photos and videos which span a period of at least the past six months. Several of these have been taken in other countries, including Italy and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Given the heavy accent of the missing person, he is most likely a visitor to our area rather than a local.

9 a.m. original story:

A rented paddle board equipped with a Go-Pro camera, a selfie stick and life jacket was found floating in Lake Tahoe on Wednesday, it's occupant nowhere to be found.

At approximately 5 p.m. Wednesday, August 12, a boater who was about one-half mile off shore near the Timber Cove Marina found the board and equipment which was rented at South Tahoe Standup Paddle at 3:30 p.m. the same day. The water in that location is about 17 feet deep.

When the renter of the equipment failed to show up, South Lake Tahoe Police officers were called at 10:10 p.m.

A representative from South Tahoe Standup Paddle began trying to track down the renter of the board. Eventually it was discovered the board had been rented for a period of one hour by a man who identified himself only as “Morym”. The man did not speak English very well, and had a thick foreign accent of unidentified origin. The renter paid cash and did not leave a credit card, phone number or any other identifying information.

SLTPD began their investigation with a shoreline search in the darkness with with no results. The US Coast Guard and the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office will assist an SLTPD marine unit with conducting a water search beginning this morning.

The photos in this story are from the retrieved Go-Pro memory card. The investigation is being handled by SLTPD as a missing person case at this time, although the SUP renter remains unidentified and has not been reported by anyone associated with him as being missing. They are asking for the public’s help to find and identify this person. If anyone has information which could be helpful in this case, please call SLTPD dispatch at 530-542-6100, or in an emergency, 911.