Ceres man missing off houseboat may be weekend's only fatality

By EMILIE RAGUSO
eraguso@modbee.com

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A Modesto Junior College football player is feared dead after friends reported him missing from a Lake Don Pedro houseboat Sunday night. It would be the only alcohol-related fatality reported in the area during Memorial Day weekend.

But law enforcement agencies in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties reported jumps in DUI arrests over the holiday.

The Tuolumne County Sheriff's Department identified the missing man Tuesday as 20-year-old Edgar Delacruz of Ceres. Tuolumne County boat patrols have combed Lake Don Pedro, using sonar to search the lake bottom, since the man vanished.

Edgar DeLaCruz

Delacruz was last seen on the boat talking on his cell phone between 8 and 8:30 p.m., Sheriff's Department spokesman Lt. Dan Bressler said. Friends discovered Delacruz missing and called 911 about 9:30 p.m.

Bressler said Delacruz and others on the boat had been drinking and that there were large amounts of alcohol on board. They were moored in the Schoolhouse mooring area, which is swimmable. Delacruz could have swum ashore or to other boats, Bressler said.

Delacruz told one friend he was going to a football camp, he added. Though authorities are not ready to say the man is dead, "it doesn't look good," Bressler said.

"He hasn't been in touch with his family that we're aware of. And there's at least one close friend he hasn't been in touch with. His wallet and his keys were left on the boat," he said. "But stranger things have happened. It would not shock me if he turns up."

Delacruz is described as 5 feet 8 inches tall and 160 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.

While authorities could not confirm the missing Delacruz was the same person as the Modesto football player, Bressler said the missing man was from Kansas. He also said he'd heard the missing man was a football player but wasn't sure where.

Delacruz, the MJC football player, also was from Kansas, according to reports published in The Bee. He graduated from Johansen High School in 2006.

DUI arrests up

No other fatalities were reported on the roads or reservoirs of Stanislaus, San Joaquin or Tuolumne counties.

But drug- or alcohol-related arrests were up as a result of patrols and checkpoints from Friday to Monday, officials said.

Stanislaus County saw 71 DUI arrests: 26 Friday night, 24 Saturday, 12 Sunday and nine Monday, said Sgt. Clint Raymer, the county supervisor for an alcohol enforcement campaign called "Avoid the 12."

The campaign includes sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols from the 12 law enforcement agencies in the county. Its goal is to reduce alcohol-related injuries and deaths, and targets holidays. The campaign is funded by a $516,000 grant from the state Office of Traffic Safety.

Last year, officers saw 57 arrests countywide. Raymer attributed the higher number of arrests this year to more out-of-town visitors.

"The majority of our stops were people from the Bay Area going out toward Tulloch, Yosemite and Woodward. So I think we just had more people here," Raymer said. "One guy we stopped said Woodward Reservoir is the best lake around. That's why they come there."

Lake visitors, however, were more sparse than in previous years, said Sgt. Paul Yotsuya, who supervises Modesto and Woodward reservoirs for the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department. There were no arrests or fatalities on area waterways.

"This was the quietest weekend we've had in quite some time for Memorial Day weekend," Yotsuya said. "A combination of the weather and the gas (prices) did us in.

"I'd like to see a little more attendance, but with weather conditions and other economic issues I understand people can't get out."

Bee staff writer Emilie Raguso can be reached at eraguso@modbee.com or 578-2235.