Deputies find body of missing swimmer at Lake Pleasant
PEORIA, Ariz. - The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office says deputies found the body of a man who went underwater while swimming and didn't resurface.
MCSO says deputies responded to the Sunset Ridge area just after 11:30 a.m. on June 26.
"When deputies arrived, a witness stated that a male adult was swimming, went underwater and did not resurface," MCSO said in a statement.
The swimmer's body was found around 4:30 p.m. He was identified as 32-year-old DeAndre Taylor.
Taylor's drowning is the fifth at Lake Pleasant so far this year.
‘My brother was a neighborhood hero’
His brother, Andro Benard Jr., said he wasn't given many details on what happened, but said he was actually a very good swimmer and an athlete. Taylor unfortunately wasn't wearing a life jacket at the time.
Taylor was from Seattle but had been living here in Arizona for the past two years. He was out on Lake Pleasant celebrating his 32nd birthday.
"I talked to him on Sunday, and then I texted him early morning yesterday and I told him ‘happy birthday’ and that was the last time I heard from him. I was with my grandma and tried to call him and he didn't answer the phone," Benard said. "That's my role model, my very first role model. He loved his niece and nephew."
His brother says he was a college graduate and neighborhood hero for his community in Seattle. He's described as a loyal friend to those who knew him.
Benard says his parents are struggling with the fact that they will never see their firstborn child again.
His family doesn't want him to be forgotten.
"Most of the time when a person of color passes away, it's usually a bad narrative. I just want everybody to know that my brother was a neighborhood hero," Benard said.
A balloon release is being held in Seattle on June 27 to honor Taylor.
Drowning reported at Lake Pleasant
The victim, identified only as an adult, did not survive. Peoria Police will investigate the drowning.
Area where the search was happening: