SAN ANTONIO – A man’s body recovered from Woodlawn Lake on Thursday morning may have been a casualty of floodwaters from this week’s storms.
San Antonio firefighters used a boat to recover his body from about four feet of water after receiving a 911 call before 8 a.m.
>> Man’s body recovered at Woodlawn Lake, authorities say
“A passerby noticed the torso sticking out of the water and actually called it in,” said David Prado, battalion chief with the San Antonio Fire Department. “This is a pretty common spot for folks getting washed down.”
Prado and a San Antonio police detective told KSAT they did not immediately suspect any foul play was involved.
Although the man did have bruises on his body and his clothes had been tattered, Prado said it’s possible it could have all happened as he was swept downstream.
Several storm drains throughout the city empty into Woodlawn Lake. Occasionally, people living in those culverts and ditches will get washed away, Prado said.
“It’s a weird feeling, especially since I fish here,” said Axel Arredondo, who woke up to the commotion outside his front door.
Patrol cars and fire trucks shut down a stretch of West Woodlawn Avenue near Wilson Boulevard as crews in a boat worked to recover the body.
“It seems that we keep hearing about how they found several other bodies,” Arredondo said. “We just figured it could have been that.”
This is the third body found in Woodlawn Lake in recent months.
In March, SAFD recovered the body of a woman who was believed to have been washed away in storm waters.
A few weeks later, the fire department was called to rescue a man who, they said, had walked into the water on his own.
SAFD recovered his body after he drowned.
In February, police said a man purposely drove his car into Woodlawn Lake. SAPD said a park police officer shot him when he exited the vehicle and approached her with a knife.
He survived the incident.
In the latest case, the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the official cause of the man’s death.
According to Terri Behling with Haven for Hope, several local agencies conduct outreach efforts to warn the unhoused population about the dangers of living in the drainage system.
Behling said they make regular visits, especially ahead of weather systems such as the system that hit the San Antonio area this week.
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