COLORADO SPRINGS — Firefighters have recovered the body of a 25-year-old man who reportedly fell into a pond at Red Rock Open Space in western Colorado Springs.
Witnesses called 911 late Tuesday to report someone had fallen into the water and had not come back to the surface.
Members of the Colorado Springs Fire Department, including a dive team, spent hours searching the pond at night with no results.
"Unfortunately, last night we called it because of safety concerns, but today once you get in daylight hours you are able to tie off and actually reference a lot areas a lot better and it's a lot safer for us," said Captain Mike Smaldino, Public Information Officer for CSFD.
The team returned to the site Wednesday morning and recovered the body within an hour. The western parking lot of the park was closed for the recovery effort, but the entire open space is now open to the public.
"He was found in the area that we identified last night, but the difference between night time and day time is evident here," said Captain Smaldino.
It is not confirmed if the person was swimming in the pond at the time or if they jumped down into the water.
The ponds at Red Rock Canyon Open Space are not intended for swimming as natural debris can be found just below the surface.
The park is known for opportunities to walk, run, hike, bike, climb or paraglide while enjoying the outdoors.
CSFD Divers from Rescue 17 are in the water searching for a person that witnesses said fell into the water and did not resurface. Crews are still working this as a rescue pic.twitter.com/UkVdrvW1oV
— CSFD PIO (@CSFDPIO) August 18, 2021
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