Reno Man Dies in Topaz Lake,

Boat capsizes in stormy weather Saturday

A 32-year-old Reno man drowned on Topaz Lake Saturday after the boat he was on capsized in cold, windy and stormy conditions.

Jacques “Jack” Castaneda was boating on the lake with three other people, including children, in a boat when windy and stormy conditions capsized the boat he was on, sending him and three others into the cold water roughly 200 feet from the shore, according to law enforcement officials in a recent news release.

The day was extremely cold for May, with temperatures in the 40s and very strong winds gusting at more than 40 mph. The lake is popular with anglers from both California and Nevada as it lies on the border of both states.

This is the first fatal accident on the lake in many years, said Mono County Sheriff Ingrid Braun.

“There has not been a boating accident on the Lake in my memory,” she said, although she noted there was a case in 2012 when a man accidentally reversed his vehicle and drove into the lake. That man died, she said.

Deputies from the Nevada Douglas County Sheriff’s Office (the lake is on the border between Mono County in California and Douglas County in Nevada) were first on scene, and were able to pull the other three victims, one adult and two minors, to safety. Castaneda, however, was found unresponsive in the water, according to the Nevada Department of Fish and Wildlife, who have some regulatory responsibility for the lake.

Douglas County deputies performed CPR, but Castaneda was pronounced dead at the scene. The other three passengers from the boat were treated and released on scene, the news release said. Neither of the adults were wearing life jackets when the boat capsized, the sheriff’s office said.

“Obviously, our thoughts and prayers to out to the family of this young man,” said Game Warden Captain Brian Bowles, Boating Law Administrator for Nevada. “Accidents like this are the reason you always check the weather report before you head out. You never want to be in the middle of the lake when a storm rolls in like it did today.”

Bowles questions whether the cold water might also have played a role. He said the water in Topaz Lake was, and is currently, in the low 50’s, making it extremely difficult for anyone to be able to swim to shore before they succumb to the cold.

“The average person would start to lose muscle control within the first few minutes,” he said. “That is why we always ask everyone to wear a life jacket when they are on the water. You just never know what is going to happen.”

Although children under the age of 13 are the only people legally required to wear a life vest, the Nevada Department of Wildlife strongly suggests that everyone wear one when they head out on the water, the news release said.