18-year-old vanishes as friends try to pull him from lake, CA fraternity says

An 18-year-old’s body has been found after he vanished while swimming at Lake Havasu on the California-Arizona border, sheriff’s officials reported.

A 911 caller reported that Simon Daniel, 18, of Pinole, California, went underwater and did not resurface near Copper Canyon on the lake at about 3 p.m. Saturday, May 17, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

Daniel, a first-year student at California State University, Fullerton, visited the lake with fellow fraternity and sorority members, the Sigma Pi fraternity at the college said on Facebook.

The swimmers did not realize that recent heavy rains had created dangerous conditions in the water, the fraternity said.

Other fraternity members entered the water to assist the swimmers, but a wave separated Daniel from the others and he vanished underwater, the fraternity said.

A dive team using sonar and a remote-operated vehicle found his body just before 9 a.m. Sunday, May 18, the sheriff’s office said.

He was known for his “love of music, boundless energy and kind spirit,” the fraternity said.

The fraternity described Daniel as a computer science major and “a respected leader on campus” at the Los Angeles-area university.

“He was the heart of the fraternity - genuine, joyful and someone who brightened every room with his brilliant smile,” the fraternity said.

Deputies ask anyone with information to call Cpl. Brandon Abell at 760-326-9200.

Lake Havasu is about a 300-mile drive east from Los Angeles.

This story was originally published May 20, 2025 at 10:59 AM with the headline "18-year-old vanishes as friends try to pull him from lake, CA fraternity says."