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Body found in Boca Reservoir

David Bunker

Officials believe they have located the body of Justin Garrick, who drowned in a boating accident at Boca Reservoir on June 26.Just before noon on Monday, a boater found a body floating in the reservoir and called the sheriff’s department. While the identity of the body has not been determined, the physical description and clothing match 17-year-old Garrick, Nevada County sheriff’s officials said.The boaters put a flotation device on the body to keep it afloat until the Truckee Fire Protection District arrived at the reservoir with a boat and recovered the body. Nevada County sheriff’s officers arrived later and took over the recovery operation.The body showed signs of an impact, according to the sheriff’s department, which may affirm eyewitness reports that Garrick was struck by the side of the wakeboard boat before drowning.The county coroner will determine the identity and cause of death.Garrick’s family, who had assembled their own search efforts since he disappeared, was at the scene. Tambara Garrick, Justin Garrick’s cousin, said his body was found near a buoy that marked the area in which he had disappeared. Although the discovery of the body was tough on the family, they are glad to have a sense of closure in the accident, said Tambara Garrick.Justin Garrick had just finished wakeboarding with a group of his friends on June 26, and was seated at the front of the boat when the craft took a hard left turn and hit a wake at the same time. Garrick, who had lent the life jacket to the teenager wakeboarding behind the boat, was thrown from the boat and never seen alive again.


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