AUSTIN, Texas — Austin police are investigating after a body was discovered Saturday in Lady Bird Lake, near Longhorn Dam.

Police at 1:21 p.m. were notified about calls for a welfare check on the east end of the lake, according to the Austin Police Department’s Officer Michael Bullock.

What You Need To Know

  • A body was discovered Saturday afternoon in Austin’s Lady Bird Lake, near Longhorn Dam

  • Police are investigating but so far there’s no indication of foul play. The person recovered from the lake has not been identified

  • There’s been a number of deaths in Lady Bird Lake recently, prompting an increased police presence in the area and conspiracy theories

  • Police said if there was something that indicated criminal activity, they would report that to the public 

When police and firefighters arrived, the person in the lake was deceased. So far, nothing indicates foul play or a homicide, Bullock said.

The person found in the lake has not been identified.

Witnesses saw the body in the lake, but no one has come forward with information about what occurred.

“Every time we have an instance like this, officers and homicide detectives come out to the scene and we look for particular indicators — whether or not there’s anything that shows that something may have been done intentionally,” Bullock said. “That can include a variety of different things. But our investigations are also done tandemly with the medical examiner’s office because we don’t determine the cause of death – that’s up to the medical examiner. It’s very early on in the investigation.”

There’s heightened concern as several bodies have been pulled from Lady Bird Lake recently. In fact, the department has stepped up patrols along the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail. A fence barrier was put up between the trail and the water, and lighting was installed along the trail to increase visibility for those walking after dark.

The deaths have sparked several conspiracies, some even going so far as suggesting a serial killer is on the loose. Bullock didn’t feed those conspiracies.

“One thing to keep in mind is that Austin has thousands of acres of green space and waterways. It’s a very nature-focused, large metropolitan area,” he said. “We would just encourage people to always be aware of your surrounding and, if you can, go with friends, keep yourself safe, so that way we don’t have unfortunate incidents that can occur.”

“If we did have any information that something specific was concerning or suspicious related to criminal activity, those are thing that we try to convey to the public as soon as we possibly can,” Bullock continued.