Deputies investigating July 4 Lake LBJ drowning

The body of a 38-year-old white male from Austin was recovered Wednesday, July 4, from the Llano River arm of Lake LBJ in Kingsland after the man apparently drowned trying to swim across the lake.

Llano County Sheriff's Chief Deputy John Neff said his department received a 911 call about a missing swimmer at 2:55 a.m. Wednesday. Deputies responded to the scene and requested assistance from Texas Parks & Wildlife game wardens.

Neff said four individuals had decided to swim from one side of the lake to the other near the Ranch to Market Road 2900 in Kingsland. One of the swimmers apparently turned back while the other three continued to swim across the channel.

Two of the three swimmers made it to the other shore, but noticed their friend, the 38-year-old male, was in distress and disappeared under the water.

Kingsland Volunteer Fire Department responded to the scene with a boat and TPWD wardens arrived with boats at about 4 a.m. and began searching with side-scan sonar. Horseshoe Bay Police Department also assisted in the search with their boat.

The victim was located via side-scan sonar and a diver recovered the victim’s body at 12:34 p.m. Wednesday. Justice of the Peace Era Marion pronounced the victim dead and ordered an autopsy.

The name of the victim was not being released yet Thursday morning, pending notification of the victim's next of kin. It was unclear whether alcohol played a role in the incident.