PUEBLO, Colorado — Colorado Parks and Wildlife said they recovered a body in 107 feet of water on the north shore of Lake Pueblo State Park Tuesday morning after a small boat capsized Sunday evening.
After search operations had to be delayed because of high wind conditions on the water, Joe Stadterman, the park manager at Lake Pueblo and member of CPW's Marine Evidence Recovery Team, confirmed divers and sonar crews returned to the area around 9 p.m. Monday, and their team recovered the body around 5:45 a.m. Tuesday.
The victim has been identified as 30-year-old Joshua Prindle, of Pueblo West. Fort Carson later confirmed he was a staff sergeant. Another woman died in the incident, and her body was recovered on Sunday. The Pueblo County Coroner identified her as 38-year-old Jessica Prindle, the wife of the other victim.
Neither were wearing life jackets.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family.
The call for help came in around 7:37 p.m. Sunday after witnesses reported seeing the small, 16-foot Jon boat overturn with 13 people aboard during high winds. The water temperature was just 60 degrees.
Park rangers were able to rescue eight juveniles and three adults from the water. All 11 survivors were taken to area hospitals to be treated for hypothermia and other injuries.
It is unclear how much weight the boat that overturned is rated for. On Tuesday, Stadterman said a small boat would typically have a capacity of five to six people.
Stadterman said the contributing factors to accident were the weather and an overloaded vessel.
Boaters are asked to avoid the area of the North Picnic Area to prevent from disturbing the water during the search and recovery effort.
“This is a tragic loss of life,” Stadterman said. “And it underscores the importance of being extremely careful around the water. If you are on or even near the water, we strongly urge you to wear a life jacket.”
There have been eight drownings in Colorado in 2022 so far, with four happening since May 25. The state experienced its worst year on the water ever in 2020 when 34 people drowned. Another 22 people drowned in 2021.