Five bodies pulled from Lady Bird Lake in six months

Five bodies have been pulled from Lady Bird Lake during the last six months, that includes a woman in her 60's found on February 29. Her case is currently being investigated as a possible homicide and it's leaving many residents concerned for their own safety.

A crime scene took over Lady Bird Lake the morning of February 29 near Longhorn Dam after the woman's body was found in the water.    

"That's scary," says Mary Coronado, frequents Lady Bird Lake.

"Hearing that this sort of thing is happening, it really kind of takes me by surprise and all," says Dead Bouvier, moved to Austin.

It was a passerby who reported seeing the body off the trail near the intersection of Pleasant Valley and Canterbury.

"Since it's located in a body of water and we don't know what occurred, we're going to handle it as suspicious until we determine otherwise," says Cpl. Angel Polansky, Austin Police Dept.

This is actually the fifth body found in Lady Bird Lake within the last six months. Police have yet to say whether the other incidents were suspicious or not.

It all leaves avid-runner Barbara Burnett concerned. She has been running this trail with her dog for more than 30 years. 

"This is a gem in Austin and everybody knows this is the place to come. We don't want to have people scared or worried about their safety," says Barbara Burnett, avid-runner.

On September 17, 2015, a man's body was found floating in the water near Auditorium Shores. A person who was working on some boats nearby made the discovery.

Then on October 24, 2015, police say they received calls of a reckless driver. The man, in his 30s, reportedly ran into a guardrail on Mopac. Witnesses then say he deliberately jumped into Lady Bird Lake.

Another man's body was discovered floating in the water on November 29, 2015. Police identified him as 23-year-old Santiago Becerra, who was a UT graduate student.

Earlier this month, on February 14, a man in his 50's was found near Congress. He was fully dressed and had his phone and wallet in his pocket. 

"Yea, you don't think about it but I guess it does happen," says Coronado.

Residents we spoke with would like to see more security around the lake, along with more lighting.

"I noticed that some areas are more well lit, like Zilker seems really nice, but some areas are very secluded and have much more dense vegetation. So maybe a little extra lighting would be helpful. So you can actually see people coming at you in the dark. It helps," says Bouvier.

According to our records, this past June and July, two other bodies were pulled from Lady Bird Lake. 

At least five bodies were discovered in that lake in 2015.

At least four bodies were discovered in that lake in 2014.

So far in 2016, there have been two bodies found.