Sheriff: Body recovered from Lake Solano area where teen went missing

The Solano County Sheriff’s Office on Monday confirmed that a body had been found Sunday afternoon in the Lake Solano area, where a Winters teenager involved in an early July 3 truck crash went missing.

The Sheriff’s Office public information officer, Sgt. Rexall Hawkins said the body had been “in the water for seven days,” suggesting it was somewhat decomposed, and autopsy results, based on either fingerprints or dental records, are pending.

He and the Solano County Coroner, who also confirmed the body’s recovery, declined to identify the remains as those of 18-year-old Eduardo Fierros until the autopsy was completed.

While official confirmation may occur Tuesday, the Coroner said, family members on Monday posted on social media that Fierros’ body had been found.

“Cousin Efi, gone too soon. Rest in peace Eduardo Fierros. We will love you forever. Rest in Peace,” read the post by Dagoberto Fierros of Winters.

The discovery of the body at about 4 p.m. Sunday, Hawkins said, ended several days of work by multiple law enforcement agencies and public safety officials whose efforts had entered a “recovery mode.”

Hawkins said that the body was spotted “by a citizen” who alerted a Solano County Sheriff’s Office recovery team that was “on the water” and nearby.

He also said the search operation included teams from Yolo, Napa, and Sacramento County Sheriff’s offices, CAL FIRE, the California Rescue Dog Association, and Alameda County, among others, volunteers and members of the Fierros family.

Fierros was last known to be in a submerged pickup truck that somehow ended up in the water at Lake Solano Park, where, just after midnight, deputies responded to a call near the park’s east end and Putah Creek Road, west of Canal Lane, Hawkins told The Reporter last week just before search-and-rescue efforts were suspended and entered a recovery mode.

According to information from the Solano County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, deputies responded to the crash site, where they spotted a red truck “fully submerged in the water and found an 18-year-old man clinging to the shoreline” according to the post’s wording. Deputies assisted the man and requested medical aid. The man said his friend, Fierros, was still inside the truck.

Vacaville Fire Protection District firefighters trained in swift water rescue attempted to access the truck but were unable to get to it. The Solano County Sheriff’s Office dive team was called out while deputies searched the shoreline. The truck was later recovered from the water unoccupied, the post indicated.

The California Highway Patrol investigated the collision, noted Hawkins.