Boy’s Body Pulled From Reservoir : Littlerock Dam: Apparent drowning is second reported in less than a week at recreation area near Palmdale.

Sheriff’s deputies early Wednesday pulled the body of a 13-year-old Los Angeles boy out of the lake behind Littlerock Dam. It’s the second apparent drowning death in less than a week at the renovated recreation area that reopened to the public June 23.

Fabian Perez, who lived near Downtown Los Angeles, disappeared Tuesday afternoon while swimming and picnicking with relatives at Littlerock Reservoir. After an intense search that involved helicopters, a trained dog and ground crews, the boy’s body was spotted in the lake shortly after 8 a.m. Wednesday, Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Becker said.

The boy was playing in water about three to four feet deep, Becker said, when he apparently wandered into an area that has a steep dropoff to depths of up to eight feet, the sergeant said.

“He was not an expert swimmer,” Becker said. “I think once he got into that area, he went under.”

Last Friday, authorities recovered the body of Sam Rosenfeld, 39, of Canoga Park, who reportedly disappeared during a late-night swim off the reservoir’s boat dock. Los Angeles County coroner’s spokesman Scott Carrier said an initial examination to determine the cause of Rosenfeld’s death was inconclusive. Additional tests have been ordered.

U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Shawn E. Lawler said there are no lifeguards in the area because the lake is primarily for boating and fishing. “It’s not a designated swimming area and not a designated beach,” Lawler said. “It’s swimming at your own risk.”

There are, however, no signs in the area where Fabian drowned to notify people that the beach is not designated for swimming.

The two deaths cast a pall over the scenic recreation area, located at the edge of Angeles National Forest, just southeast of Palmdale. After closing the recreation area for two years of refurbishing, the Forest Service, which manages it, recently staged a festive dedication ceremony to show the public the area’s new picnic tables, restrooms, boat ramp and camping areas.

Lawler urged parents to keep a close eye on youngsters who enter the lake, and suggested that people who do swim in the area team up in a buddy system so that one swimmer can get help if the other has a problem in the water.

Fabian, who had been visiting an uncle in Palmdale, was in the lake at the same time as several other children, sheriff’s investigators said.

But when the other children emerged from the lake, Fabian was not with them, authorities said. His uncle notified sheriff’s deputies, who organized a search of the lake and the surrounding hiking areas.

The search was suspended at midnight, then resumed at 7 a.m. Wednesday. About an hour later, a spotter in a Sheriff’s Department helicopter saw the body in the lake. It was recovered by sheriff’s diving team.