The body of Stacey Hernandez, 21, of Rogers was recovered two weeks after a boating accident on Beaver Lake.
Hernandez's body was recovered in 110 feet of water at 9:41 p.m. Tuesday, said Keshia Guyll, spokeswoman for the Benton County Sheriff's Office.
Hernandez Family
The Stacey Hernandez family has set up a fund for funeral expenses and for her 15-month old son at: www.youcaring.com/f…
Source: Staff Report
Bruce’s Legacy Search, Recovery Team
Bruce’s Legacy, a Wisconsin-based sonar search and recovery team, was founded in memory of Bruce Cormican, founder Keith Cormican’s brother. Bruce Cormican, a firefighter, died trying recover a drowning victim’s body. The three-year old charity traveled to more than a dozen searches last year. Keith Cormicon says he hopes to expedite search efforts by purchasing a boat that will cover equipment on board, allowing the team to search in the rain. Current equipment includes side scan sonar and a remotely operated vehicle to facilitate searches. Learn more at: www.bruceslegacy.com
Source: Staff Report
Hernandez was with four other people on the lake March 24. The family had rented a cabin for spring break. The group was an estimated 100 yards from shore when the canoe and paddle boat they were in capsized.
Rescuers said the group scattered as they hit the cold water that afternoon just as a line of storms moved through. Two of the group swam to a sandbar island where they were picked up by a sheriff's deputy. Two swam to shore.
Rescue crews initially thought the group of five had gotten off the lake. The Sheriff's Office, dive team and local fire departments searched the shoreline and water for Hernandez for nearly a week, basing operations from Coppermine Lodge. That search, complicated by water depth and an undefined area where Hernandez may have drowned, ended March 30.
Bruce's Legacy, a Wisconsin volunteer group with side scan sonar equipment, started its search in Arkansas on March 31, said Keith Cormican, founder and director.
The group is equipped with the best possible sonar equipment, he said. But they, too, ran into difficulties.
"It took us longer than we were hoping for," he said.
He started with a search area about a half-mile wide and a mile long, Cormican said. The sonar equipment he uses looks like a 4-foot long torpedo and weighs 100 pounds. To search a 100-foot depth, it has to be dragged behind the boat at 80 feet deep. The cable kept getting stuck in trees. Cormican had to make one dive to retrieve the equipment.
Typically he uses a remote operated vehicle tethered to a cable to explore places before a dive.
Beaver Lake, formed in 1966 by flooding the landscape, has too many trees.
"It's an underwater forest," Cormican said.
Weather also caused several stops.
The week-long recovery trip is one of the longest for the three-year old search organization.
"It's an extremely difficult lake to search," Cormican said.
Cormican's team found what he thought was Hernandez's body Sunday, and the Benton County Dive Team made the recovery dive Tuesday.
Hernandez's body was released to the family Wednesday, said Daniel Oxford, Benton County coroner.
There was no trauma, no sign of foul play and a full autopsy wasn't required. Oxford took samples for a toxicology test and, by policy, a DNA profile.
Drowning was the cause of death, Oxford said, but hypothermia and exhaustion were contributing factors.
Hernandez wasn't wearing a life jacket during the incident. She leaves behind a 15-month old son, according to a Web page set up by the family.
Hernandez is the 115th person to drown on Beaver Lake, according to Alan Bland, park ranger with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
NW News on 04/09/2015