LAKE CASITAS : Body May Be That of Missing Student

A body discovered Wednesday at Casitas Dam may be that of a 20-year-old Santa Barbara man listed as missing for more than six weeks, authorities said.

Jose Eloy Munguia, a student at Santa Barbara City College reported missing on April 24, was the subject of a massive search after a car registered in his name was found near the gate leading to Casitas Dam on April 25, said Deputy Coroner Craig Stevens.

Munguia’s friends told police that he was despondent and possibly suicidal over various personal problems, Stevens said. The death is being viewed by investigators as a possible suicide.

Personal items, identification cards and a key recovered with the body all belonged to Munguia, but Stevens said a positive identification could not be made until an autopsy is completed today.

“The body appears to have been in the water for an extended period of time, and is very badly decomposed, so we are waiting to confirm some surgical scars before identifying him definitely,” Stevens said.

Efforts by medical examiners and Munguia’s friends on Wednesday to contact relatives by telephone in Mexico were unsuccessful, Stevens said.

Casitas Municipal Water District General Manager John Johnson said it was unlikely that the decomposing body had a significant impact on water quality in the lake, where swimming is forbidden for fear of bacterial contamination.

“It’s a big lake, and generally water is in there for a long period of time,” Johnson said. Since the body did not enter the area where water leaves the dam, “it would have only a minor impact on the lake, if it had any impact at all,” Johnson said.