MCSO: Body of Saguaro Lake cliff jumper recovered

PHOENIX (CBS5) –

Authorities have recovered the body of a man who jumped from a 300-foot cliff at Saguaro Lake in the Tonto National Forest Sunday.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Officer Christopher Hegstrom said the body of Justin Otto Lee Anderson was found Friday in the area of Sandy Beach where he disappeared.

Multiple witnesses told authorities they saw Anderson hit the water on his back and never resurface around 3 p.m. Sunday.

Search helicopters from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and the Arizona Department of Public Safety flew over the area and authorities deployed an underwater search vehicle, which was in use for about one hour until water being released from Mormon Flat Dam was too strong to properly operate it anymore.

Law enforcement authorities said the search continued with the use of a drop camera that they say “is better suited for the environment Anderson is missing in.”