Man found dead in apparent drowning at California’s Donner Lake

The body of a man reported missing in an apparent drowning at Donner Lake was located and recovered Friday afternoon, authorities said.

Officers had been searching since their 12:10 p.m. call of a possible drowning at the west end of the lake, which is about 98 miles east of Sacramento. Multiple other agencies joined the search Friday afternoon attempting to locate the missing man, the Truckee Police Department said in a social media post.

Truckee police in an update Friday evening said remains of the man were located about 140 feet below the surface of the lake.

“Initial reports indicated the deceased was last seen in the water after being pulled on an inner-tube, while not wearing a personal flotation device,” the Police Department said in the update on social media.

The man’s identity had not been publicly released as of Saturday morning. Identification is pending notification of family by the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, which is also the county coroner.

This story was originally published July 18, 2025 at 3:07 PM.

Darrell Smith

The Sacramento Bee

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Darrell Smith is a local reporter for The Sacramento Bee. He joined The Bee in 2006 and previously worked at newspapers in Palm Springs, Colorado Springs and Marysville. Smith was born and raised at Beale Air Force Base and lives in Elk Grove.