State Officials ID Bodies Of Danbury Men Found In Candlewood Lake

DANBURY, CT — State officials have identified the men whose bodies were recovered in Candlewood Lake Thursday.

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has identified the Danbury men as 26-year-old Muzha Medardo Vayancela and 38-year-old Loja Klever Guanuchi, WFSB is reporting.

The bodies were turned over to the state's Chief Medical Examiner, DEEP spokesperson James Fowler told reporters. The deaths are being investigated as an accident.

Both men jumped from a boat into the lake Monday night around 10:30 and did not return. The pair were among five people who spent the day on Candlewood Lake in Danbury. The mariners who remained on the boat called 911, triggering a search-and-rescue operation.

Rescue boats utilized sonar and underwater imaging equipment and aerial drones from the Brookfield Police Department in the search, which was suspended around 2:30 a.m., according to Danbury police spokesperson Henry said.

Additional rescue boats and dive teams from Danbury Police, Brookfield, Sherman, New Fairfield, NUSAR, Region 5, Candlewood Lake Authority, Ball Pond and other agencies responded to assist with the search.

The search was once again suspended Tuesday evening, resumed Wednesday, but was suspended around 4 p.m. due to weather conditions. Search operations began again at 7 a.m. Thursday, and resulted in the successful recovery of the bodies, according to Fowler