Travis County Sheriff’s Office press release shared May 28, 2020. Location updated:

At 7:52 pm on Monday, May 25, 2020, deputies responded to assist on a report that a male and female in a canoe had capsized, were seen in distress, then went under the water. This was at 1000 Fallwell Ln. on private property in a 400-acre pond fed by the Colorado River.

Neither of them resurfaced. Rescue efforts were immediately started by multiple agencies including Fire and Starflight. Just after 8:30 pm, the nature of the incident changed to recovery. Due to lack of daylight and severe weather, TCSO’s recovery efforts could not be initiated until the next morning.

Early Tuesday morning, the body of the female was recovered. The dynamics of the pond and the terrain around it made it impossible to use any of TCSO’s Lake Patrol boats. They were simply too large. TCSO deployed a small Zodiac boat and Texas Parks & Wildlife assisted with a boat equipped with sonar. TCSO also deployed drones and DPS assisted with helicopter searches. The efforts were suspended at dusk.

At daybreak Wednesday, the search resumed. At approximately 10:30 am, the body of the male was recovered. The missing canoeists have been identified as Rafael Luna of Vera Cruz, Mexico and Eva Cruz-Ramon, 54 of Austin.

An investigation into the cause and manner of death is being conducted by TCSO and the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office.