Four months after he and a woman , search crews on Tuesday recovered the body of 61-year-old Frank Montoya submerged with his boat in 120 feet of water.
“We never stopped looking,” Brian Kerrigan, operations manager at Lake Pueblo, said in a written statement.
Montoya went on a fishing trip with 57-year-old Kimberlie Temple on Dec. 10 but failed to return. A pickup truck and boat trailer believed to be linked to the pair, who were from Aguilar, was found near a boat ramp.
Temple’s body on Dec. 14 in a section of water near the dam.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife says its officers have been searching Lake Pueblo’s shore and waters ever since for Montoya.
“The turning point in the search came Monday when a rescue team arrived from Summit County with a submersible sidescan sonar,” CPW said in a news release. “They came in response to a statewide call for assistance made by the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office.”
The sonar specializes in deep-water searches and found Montoya and his boat about 300 feet west of the lake’s dam.
Rescue divers from the Colorado Springs Fire Department were summoned to the scene Tuesday and recovered Montoya’s body.
Kerrigan said divers described the visibility in the water as so poor they couldn’t even see the submerged boat.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Montoya and hope this provides them some closure as they deal with their grief,” Kerrigan said in his statement. “Our staff worked tirelessly to bring resolution to this case.”
