Search ends for man who went missing underwater in Lake Murray, SC officials say
A search for a missing man in the waters of Lake Murray that began Saturday afternoon ended Sunday night, according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
Just before 9 p.m. Sunday, South Carolina DNR said that the body of the man who dive teams searched for had been recovered.
Gonzalo Briseno, a 35-year-old Columbia resident, was identified as the man who died, Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher said Monday.
On Saturday afternoon, several people on a boat went into the water to assist a person in distress, South Carolina DNR said Sunday in a news release. One man did not resurface, according to the release.
Briseno was part of the group that was trying to assist the person in distress, South Carolina DNR said.
No other injuries were reported.
The boat was in a Newberry County portion of Lake Murray, not far from the line with Lexington County, South Carolina DNR said. That’s both where the search and recovery occurred, according to South Carolina DNR.
Members of the South Carolina DNR dive team were at the lake Sunday, and officials said that they used all available resources in the recovery effort.
Information about specifically where the body was found, and the depth of the water in that part of the lake, was not available.
The average depth in Lake Murray is 41.5 feet, but it can go as far down as 200 feet, according to the South Carolina DNR. Lake Murray has 620 miles of shoreline and portions of it are located in Lexington, Richland, Newberry and Saluda counties.
In addition to leading the recovery mission, South Carolina DNR also is heading up an investigation, with the coroner’s office, into the man’s death in Lake Murray.
No cause of death was announced, but the coroner’s office said an autopsy will be performed.
At least two other water deaths have been reported in Lake Murray in April.
On April 11, Travers Antonio Berry was the 50-year-old Columbia resident who fell into the water from a dock on the Irmo side of the Dreher Shoals Dam, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department said. Berry’s body was found about 2 hours later beneath a dock, according to the sheriff’s department.
Last Thursday, a missing woman’s body was recovered from Lake Murray by members of the sheriff’s department’s dive team after what appeared to be an accidental drowning, officials said.
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This story was originally published April 26, 2026 at 12:12 PM with the headline "Search ends for man who went missing underwater in Lake Murray, SC officials say."
