EL DORADO -- The body of a missing El Dorado man, Francisco Mendoza, 25, was recovered in a pond behind a residence Monday afternoon.
According to the Union County sheriff's office, deputies were called Saturday to 532 Myrtle Grove Road in reference to a fight. When the deputies arrived, Mendoza ran into the woods and never returned to the residence.
On Sunday, sheriff's Sgt. Todd Surber met with Luis Lopez, 23, of El Dorado at the sheriff's office lobby in reference to a missing persons report. Lopez reported that Mendoza, his roommate, had not returned to their residence on Edmonds Street after he ran out the night before during a fight among several friends after they had been consuming alcohol.
Lopez said several family members and friends looked around the property where the fight began and were unable to locate Mendoza. They did locate his T-shirt near the edge of a pond behind the residence.
Lopez said Mendoza last was seen wearing jeans, a khaki long sleeve shirt and work boots. Mendoza was employed as a laborer for ABC Tree Service.
Mendoza did not have a cellphone, and nobody had been in contact with him, according to the report.
Investigators from the Union County sheriff's office and the search-and-rescue team scoured the area for several hours Sunday.
On Monday, a search of the bank of the pond resulted in the discovery of a man's right boot floating in the water. The boot was identified as Mendoza's by Lopez and Yesenia Sequeira, Mendoza's girlfriend, according to the report.
A sonar device was used to drag the pond. At 4 p.m. Monday, sheriff's office investigator Jim Sanders located the body.
Union County Coroner Curtis Butterfield pronounced Mendoza dead at the scene. Butterfield said the body was sent to the state Crime Laboratory to determine the cause of death. The investigation is ongoing.
State Desk on 07/23/2015