Diving robot may have found remains of Vincent Soto in Lake Mendocino

7/11/19 — The remains of Vincent Soto, who has been missing for about a month since a tragic fishing trip, may have been found at the bottom of Lake Mendocino, right next to the bottom of Coyote Dam, and divers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will soon be mounting a potential recovery. The discovery was made with sonar, by a diving robot that was lent by the Marin County Sheriff’s Office. However, the small submersible could not use its cameras to positively identify the object, so a definitive identification has not yet been made. To accomplish this upcoming dive, the flow of Lake Mendocino into the Russian River may actually be stopped for a brief period, a relatively unprecedented event.

Soto’s family has been holding a continual vigil at the lake shore, which may be finally coming to an end. Theresa Rodriguez, Soto’s cousin, said, “We feel we finally have some light to this darkness. I know for myself for the first time in 29 days as of yesterday I got to go home without the heaviness in my heart.”