BUFFALO, N.Y. — After five days, the Buffalo Police Department brought their brother home.

The body of missing diver 34-year-old Craig Lehner, a nine-year veteran of the police department who went missing during a training exercise last Friday, was found Tuesday afternoon. He went missing in the river near Unity Island and Broderick Park; his body was found a short distance away.

The search for Lehner’s body was complicated by inclement weather, swift currents in the Niagara River and strong winds, all of which compromised visibility in the river, which varied from zero to three feet on Tuesday morning.

From the time Lehner went missing Friday afternoon, agencies from across New York State and from Canada scoured the river for any sign of the diver. At least 15 agencies were involved in the water and air search, including dive teams from Rochester and New York City.

Buffalo Police Lt. Jeff Rinaldo was adamant that the teams would not give up the search until they found and recovered Lehner’s body, adding that Lehner’s family had been at the command center in Broderick Park since Friday.

Lt. Rinaldo said during a press conference Tuesday that an image was noticed on sonar late Monday, around 4:30 p.m., 2,000-3,000 feet north of the International Bridge. It was near the end of their safe window for searching but they marked the location.

First thing Tuesday morning, teams entered the water there, just off Strawberry Island, where Lehner’s body had begun to resurface.

He was brought aboard a Buffalo Police Department boat at 1:25 p.m. by a member of the department’s Underwater Recovery Team, the same one of which Lehner was a member.

A police procession was then led up Porter Avenue, up the 190, across the 198 to ECMC.

"I don't think anyone expected this to last as long as it did, but at the end of the day, we did what we said we were going to do. We were going to bring our brother home, and we accomplished that today," Rinaldo said.

Rinaldo said the search teams are both relieved to have recovered Lehner and dealing with the grief of losing one of their own.

“The team will need time to recoup,” he said. “Everyone on the underwater team should be extremely proud. They were true, absolute professionals.”

Each day, the teams “showed up at the foot of Ferry with one mission, ‘let’s get him,’” Rinaldo said. The search effort lasted longer than expected, but “we were going to bring our brother home and we accomplished that today.” 

In addition to being a member of the Buffalo Police Department Underwater Recovery Team for the past year, Lehner also served a K-9 officer with his partner, Shield.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, in a statement released Tuesday afternoon, called Lehner’s death “a profound loss for our entire community. I join with all City of Buffalo residents in mourning the loss of this outstanding public servant. My thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones, including his mother, as well as the Buffalo Police Underwater Recovery Team and the many dedicated local, state, federal and Canadian first responders, who worked tirelessly in the search and recovery effort.”

The top of City Hall, which has been illuminated in blue lights since Friday evening, will remain blue in honor of Lehner and in solidarity with the police department Tuesday night.

Messages of support were also released by the National Sheriffs’ Association, Mercy Flight, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office and the New York State Police.

Information on a funeral service is expected Wednesday.