Found Deceased CA - Pham "Dan" Vu Thanh, South Lake Tahoe, 8 June 2017

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (FOX40)— The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help finding a missing man related to one of their own who became lost in South Lake Tahoe.

Pham Dan Vu Thanh (Dan) launched his forest green kayak at Lester Beach Thursday and had called a friend around 9:15 a.m. to tell him about his camping trip.

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El Dorado County Sheriff’s deputies, as well as other agencies, teamed up with the Coast Guard but could not find Dan during their initial searches. Family and friends led their own search for the man the ******** page says was “an avid outdoorsman” and father of two.

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The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that search efforts had been suspended due to worsening weather conditions, but that a limited search would continue. The U.S. Coast Guard and state agencies had joined in the search.

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Pham Dan Vu Thanh has been missing since he called a friend on Thursday morning (9:15 am) to say he was going kayaking and camping near Lester Beach.Efforts to find Thanh began 6:15 p.m., after he hadn't been heard from that day, but the search was suspended at midnight. "Searchers were able to complete a search of the most probable locations prior to suspension," said Sgt. Todd Hammitt.

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Today a team of divers will be out near D.L. Bliss State Park looking for any signs of a kayaker who has been missing since Thursday.

Dan Vu Thanh Pham, a 41-year-old San Leandro resident, was last heard from Thursday morning when he set off in a kayak from Lester Beach area around 9:15 a.m. to meet a friend at a campsite in Emerald Bay.

"Dan and his friend had been planning this camping trip for six months," said Elaine Pham, Dan's sister-in-law.

Dan's friend was set to launch his boat from Zephyr Cove to meet Dan, but got held up and didn't arrive at the campsite until around 3 p.m.

"We're told that he continued to call to try to inform Dan he was running behind, but there was no answer," continued Elaine.

The friend notified the park rangers at the campsite when Dan wasn't there and went out on his boat to search for him.

"He didn't get very far because of the windy conditions," said Elaine.

Officials from El Dorado County Sheriff's Office, U.S. Coast Guard, and California State Parks searched until midnight on Thursday and resumed again at 6 a.m. on Friday. However, declining weather conditions suspended the search Friday afternoon.

Limited search efforts continued over the weekend, including help on-foot and by-boat from members of the Pham family who came to the South Shore from Union City.

According to the Pham family, if the divers don't find anything today, law enforcement officials won't be able to put any more resources into the search.

Dan is also a single dad to a 15-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy.

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The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office reports Saturday a Wisconsin non-profit used side scan sonar to locate Pham’s body 245 feet below the surface of the lake off Rubicon Point.

Pham’s family utilized the funds from a ******** campaign to get help from the non-profit Bruce’s Legacy. In the campaign, friends and family said Pham was a father of two. He was also the brother of an Alameda County Sheriff’s Office employee.

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