Nonprofit’s searchers find body, coroner identifies Idaho man who died in Lucky Peak Lake
With the help of out-of-state recovery volunteers, the body of a man who disappeared in Lucky Peak Lake was recovered nearly a month after he was last seen.
The Ada County Coroner’s Office identified the victim on Tuesday afternoon as Jose Nunez, 46, of Nampa.
Nunez became the third person to die in Lucky Peak Lake in a short span in late July. He was swimming in the lake with other people near their boat when he went underwater just after 7 p.m. on July 31 and never resurfaced.
The official cause and manner of death are still pending, according to the coroner’s report.
The Ada County Sheriff’s Office said its search at the lake ended after about four days because marine units were unable to find his body.
Nunez’s family then reached out to Wisconsin-based nonprofit organization Bruce’s Legacy for help. The volunteer agency aids in search and rescue operations for drowning victims to “provide resolution for families,” according to its website.
On Monday, volunteers with Bruce’s Legacy found Nunez’s body about 150 feet deep in the lake, several hundred yards from where he was last seen, according to the Ada County Sheriff’s Office.
“The Bruce’s Legacy team was able to send a retrieval device down that far to help move him towards the surface, where our marine deputies were able to recover him from the water and get him to Ada County Coroner’s Office officials,” the sheriff’s office posted on social media.
The Wisconsin organization was started by the brother of Bruce Cormican, a firefighter who drowned after being swept into a whirlpool while trying recover the body of a drowning victim.
“After 27 hour drive, 6 days of searching Lucky Peak Lake in Boise Idaho we were able to recover Jose Nunez,” the organization posted on social media. “This comes on the anniversary of Bruce’s accident 27 years ago. He was certainly with us on this difficult trip.”
Bruce’s Legacy asked for $7,500 to cover the cost of the Nunez search, and his family was able to raise the sum through a GoFundMe page.
“They found him,” Nicole Smith, a friend who was with Nunez at the time of the death, posted on Facebook. “Bruce’s Legacy has finally brought peace to all of us. They are amazing. His family can finally lay him to rest the way he deserved.”
This story was originally published August 25, 2022 at 5:22 PM.
