The body of a 26-year-old woman was found Monday afternoon submerged in the San Lorenzo River behind Highlands Park in Ben Lomond.
Search and Rescue teams from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office found the body of Soquel resident Guadalupe Cortes in the river, hours after she was reported missing by an acquaintance.
According to Sheriff’s spokeswoman April Skalland, Cortes was swimming in the river with two men on Sunday, Feb. 3. She was last seen at 12:30 p.m.
At 9 a.m. the next day, one of the men she had been swimming with called the Sheriff’s Office to report Cortes missing.
More than 15 Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue volunteers and staff members began to comb the San Lorenzo River and its banks before finding Cortes’ submerged in the river about 1/8 of a mile from the Highland’s Park Senior Center at about 3:30 p.m. on Monday.
The Sheriff’s Office declined to release any information about the cause of death until the coroner’s report is finished. They said they have interviewed several people who know Cortes as part of the investigation.
“They (the coroner) is doing an exam today and we’ll have results in the next couple of days,” Skalland said Tuesday afternoon.
Cortes 1996 green jeep was found parked in the Highland’s Park parking lot on Monday afternoon.
The Sheriff’s Office has asked that anyone with information call the investigations division at 831-454-2311.
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