JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. — A body was recovered from the water at Rockford Park in Jefferson County after a swimmer went under and didn't resurface on Tuesday, officials said.
The High Ridge Fire Protection District confirmed on Facebook that crews have recovered the body of the missing person.
High Ridge Fire Chief John Barton and a spokesperson for the Missouri State Highway Patrol said their departments were called to the area for the water rescue. It later became a recovery effort.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol said Guadalupe Lopez, 33, of Madison, Illinois, was pulled from the water and pronounced dead at 4:25 p.m.
The Big River flows through Rockford Park, which was previously known as Rockford Beach Park. Earlier this year, the Jefferson County Council voted to change the name of the area in an effort to discourage swimming.
This bill also prohibits alcohol and marijuana use. Originally, the bill prohibited swimming but that part was removed.
Since 2014, he said there have been five drownings, including two in 2023. In an interview on July 1, Barton said his department had already conducted four water rescues that involved a total of nine people.
"I worry about every weekend," Barton said in the interview earlier this year. "I worry about every weekend in the summer months."
The park shut down back-to-back weekends last summer.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said numerous fights, assaults, thefts and underage drinking led to that decision in 2023.