The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) located the body of a missing person Tuesday at 11 a.m. in Lake Havasu and identified the body as 21-year-old Dwarkesh Prasannavathanam, a computer science graduate student at Cal State Long Beach.
Prasannavathanam, originally from Chennai, India, went missing on March 24 in the early evening.
His body is thought to have resurfaced in the north basin of Lake Havasu by Crazy Horse Beach, eight days after he fell from an inner tube being pulled by a boat near the Windsor Beach boat ramp.
Prasannavathanam was not wearing a lifejacket at the time of the accident. He would have turned 22 on Tuesday, March 27.
Today’s News-Herald reported Tuesday afternoon that a windsurfer discovered his body at 10:30 a.m. However, Patricia Carter, the public information specialist for MCSO, could not confirm this.
An autopsy will be conducted to determine the exact cause of death, but Prasannavathanam is believed to have drowned.
According to Carter, the investigation remains ongoing and MCSO is now focusing on the boating accident itself. They will try to determine unclear aspects of the incident, such as whether or not the boating operator is at fault and if drugs or alcohol were a factor.
The search for Prasannavathanam’s body took longer than most searches, according to Carter.
“In my experience, this was the longest time to locate someone in the water … Sometimes the body is located when it resurfaces on its own,” Carter said. “I’m not for certain if that’s what happened in this case.”
Carter said different factors like currents, depth of the water and debris could all prolong the search for a body.
She also cautioned students to take preventative safety measures while vacationing at Lake Havasu.
“Any waterways or even a backyard pool can be dangerous,” Carter said. “Always wear a lifejacket when you’re in the water … and drink lots of fluids like water. I don’t recommend drinking alcohol ’till your back on land. People can get heat exhaustion and make bad choices.”