MCSO: Body of 2nd victim who fell in Apache Lake during flash flooding in late August recovered

PHOENIX - On Sept. 2, officials with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office say the body of another person who disappeared after falling into a lake northeast of the Valley in late August has been recovered.

According to a tweet made by officials with MCSO on its verified Twitter page on Sept. 2, the body of 52-year-old Rick Le Grand was recovered earlier in the day.

The body of 41-year-old Deanna Peterson was recovered on Aug. 25, the sheriff's office said.

(Can't see the interactive map? Click here)

At around 9 p.m on Aug. 22, officials with MCSO say a flash flood caught two boats on the shoreline, and a scramble took place to get onto watercraft and escape the area. Le Grand and Peterson were on a boat carrying three other people.

Officials with MCSO said the boat Le Grand and Peterson were on experienced mechanical issues and would not start.

"The other boater maneuvered their boat to try and jumpstart the other boat. Unfortunately, this effort was unsuccessful before the flash flood and debris carried with it, reached the lake. The five people onboard the inoperable board went into the water as the boat capsized," read a portion of the statement.

According to officials, three of the five people who were in the water were rescued, but Le Grand and Peterson were not found.

"The extreme challenges that we are facing right now is the debris and vegetation," said Joaquin Enriquez with MCSO. "They are saying that there is so much debris in the water that they can't see, number one. Number two, it's causing our boats to malfunction because of the ash from the fire getting stuck in the engines."

MCSO crews worked with underwater remote vehicles at one point.

"We're working with a large area 300 by 350 feet of just debris, where we believe that people may have gone under," said Enriquez.

"The layer of debris on the surface of the water is approximately 12” thick," read a portion of the statement.