RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA : Body Discovered in Man-Made Lake

The body of a man was discovered Tuesday morning by two women who had been strolling near a shallow man-made lake, coroner’s investigators said.

There were no obvious signs of foul play, said Richard Rodriguez, senior coroner’s investigator, who speculated that the man may have been intoxicated when he drowned in Lake Santa Margarita. The man’s name was not released pending notification of relatives.

Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Richard J. Olson said an autopsy was scheduled for today. The incident is believed to be the first drowning at the lake in the planned community.

“It appears to be accidental,” Olson said. “We know there were about three to four people out there doing some drinking. There was a bottle found at the scene. But when these people left or how long they were out there, I have no idea.”

At the scene Tuesday, an empty pint-size liquor bottle, several plastic cups, opened soda cans and containers of Tabasco sauce and salt were strewn near a grouping of wooden benches about six feet from the water’s edge. The landscaped viewpoint, situated between Calle Melinda and Calle Marbella, is one of several park-like spots along the lake.

Sheriff’s divers found evidence at the bottom of the lake that the man may have entered feet first, Olson said.

Sara Jensen, 28, who has lived there three months in a condominium near the lake, was one of the women who discovered the body. Jensen said she was walking her dog on the lake-front sidewalk about 9:15 a.m. when another woman, who was not identified, approached and asked her to come look at something in the water.

“She said, ‘I think I see someone in the water,’ ” Jensen said. “She had such a bizarre look on her face. At first we didn’t see it, then we walked a little bit farther and saw him floating face down in the water.”

The man had been wearing a well-worn brown sweater and brown pants.

Neighborhood residents said it is not unusual to see small groups of men congregating near the water in the early evening hours, mostly to fish for trout and bass. Two residents said men also have been observed drinking beer and other alcoholic beverages.

Diane Gaynor, a spokeswoman for the Santa Margarita Co., which began building the planned community in the mid-1980s, said the lake and surrounding greenbelts are public but that consuming alcoholic beverages there is prohibited. There are private parks in the community too, and these have locked gates.