MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. — Divers with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office located the remains of Rick LeGrand on Wednesday after more than a week of searching.
LeGrand was one of two people killed when a monsoon storm caused a flash flood that capsized a boat on Apache Lake. The incident happened on Aug. 22, and MCSO found LeGrand’s body on Sept. 2.
In the intervening time, LeGrand’s mother Penny LeGrand said she made a deal with the lake that her son loved so much.
“This sounds kind of silly, but that morning he was found I said to the lake, ‘If you just let me have him back for a little while, I will give him back to you,’” Penny LeGrand said on Thursday. “And it was that afternoon really that they found him.”
Penny said that Rick had a spiritual connection to the lake. He loved spending time there and took it upon himself to make small improvements here and there, including planting grass in one of the lake’s coves.
Rick even started a petition to repair Apache Trail which is adjacent to Apache Lake, as part of his love for the area.
Rick’s aunt Tina Blackburn said finding his body was better than thinking of him still out there somewhere, but only by a little.
“The unknown for my brother and sister-in-law and nephews was huge, and even though you knew in your heart that he had moved on -- it’s relief, but, yet at the same time it is — the grief is there,” Blackburn said. “You can’t make the grief go away.”
