Castaic Lake Drowning Victim Is Identified

The family of a 3-year-old boy who wandered away from a picnic at the Castaic Lake State Recreation Area looked in vain for the youth on land before lifeguards were contacted and the boy was found in the lake, authorities said Tuesday.

Joe Guzman of Los Angeles was pronounced dead at 8 p.m. Monday at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia after he was pulled from the lake bottom by a diver who found him in 7 to 10 feet of water, authorities said.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said the boy had wandered from a family picnic about 7 p.m.

“He had been out of sight for three or four minutes when they noticed he was gone,” Sgt. Bryan Williams said. “He had last been seen walking in a direction away from the lake, so they began their search on land.”

A short time later, one of the family members ran to the lifeguard station about a mile from where the boy had disappeared. A lifeguard equipped with diving equipment found the boy on the bottom of the lake, officials said. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.