Body recovered Sunday in Canyon Lake

COMAL COUNTY (KXAN) - Divers with the San Marcos Area Recovery Team (S.M.A.R.T.) located and recovered the body of a missing swimmer just before noon on Sunday from Canyon Lake at Canyon Park.

Authorities say that Frank Delano Harrison Jr., 55, a native of North Carolina, had been residing at Canyon Park for several weeks with a female companion.

Three witnesses reported to officials around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday that Harrison went missing while swimming after a tube in area 3 of the park. They said that they heard him in distress.

The Canyon Lake Fire Department conducted a shoreline search for the missing man on Friday, but they were unable to locate him. The fire department does not have divers so they were unable to search the water.

The Canyon Lake Fire Department reached out to S.M.A.R.T., who continued the search Sunday morning.

Officials had the witnesses return on Sunday morning to help lead the divers to the location where Harrison was last seen.

“After we brought the witnesses back to the scene on Sunday morning, they were able to greatly narrow down the search area.

Using a rope and arc search pattern from shore, divers were able to find the body in three minutes.”

Harrison’s body was found in 8 feet of water, 25 feet from the shoreline.

The death has been ruled an accidental drowning by Justice of the Peace Guerrerro.

The Comal County Sheriff’s Department, Texas Game Wardens and the Army Corp of Engineers had boats and jet skis in the water to control recreational boating traffic while S.M.A.R.T. prepared and conducted the underwater search.

S.M.A.R.T. is a non-profit volunteer dive recovery team consisting of police officers, firefighters, and paramedics and a subdivision of the South Hays Fire Department.

This is the third drowning victim S.M.A.R.T. has recovered in the past two months.