MISSION VIEJO : Body in Lake May Be That of Missing Man

Divers from the Sheriff’s Department pulled the body of a young man from Lake Mission Viejo on Thursday who fit the description of a restaurant worker missing since March 9.

Investigators haven’t determined whether foul play was involved, or identified the dead man.

However, Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Garner said the man found in the water matches the description of Rosario Najero, a busboy at the Lakeview Chinese Restaurant, on the waterfront of Lake Mission Viejo.

Restaurant employees said Najero was intoxicated when he showed up for work on the morning of March 9.

The Garden Grove resident was sent to his car to sleep, but when a co-worker went to check on him, he found only the busboy’s shoes and socks.

“We never saw him after that,” said assistant manager Larry Koong. “He never drank before his father died a couple of months ago. He has been very sad since then.”

Najero’s brother called Garden Grove police over the weekend, Garner said.

Investigators from Garden Grove contacted the Sheriff’s Department on Wednesday and asked for a dive team to search the lake.

Shortly before 11 a.m., divers found the body of a young Latino male wearing only a pair of black pants about 40 feet below the surface and some 45 yards from the restaurant.

Garner said the county coroner will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

“All we know right now is that we have a dead body,” said Garner.

At the restaurant, where Najero was known as Fofo, “everyone is kind of slow right now,” said Koong. “Usually, there’s laughing and joking, but this has everyone feeling bad.”

Although Najero had worked at the restaurant for only five months, “we liked him because he never caused any trouble and he always walked around with a smile on his face,” Koong said.