After four hours of searching the murky waters of Lake Marie, which is part of the Chain of Lakes, Azooz's body was found around 11 p.m. Tuesday.
His family says Azooz, a father of four, grew up on the lake and loved to swim and water ski. He fell into the waters while fully clothed when he slept while fixing his boat. A family member called 911.
"From the time they called to the time we got on scene was just about 5 minutes. There were some deputies from the sheriff's department, who, from shore, had a civilian boat and they attempted to do a rescue as well. They couldn't locate the individual either," Antioch Department Chief Chris Lienhardt said.
Dive teams and boats with sonar from five departments responded, Lienhardt said.
Azooz's family released a statement asking for privacy, "While we have not predicted the events of last night we can request the media and the public respect the we have many difficult things to face in the coming days. We ask for time to make these decisions and [mourn] our beloved husband, father and friend. I am asking the media for sensitivity in this regard. Dave was an amazing father, a caring husband and a great friend to all. We would like to specially thank all the countless men and women from all the rescue agencies that added in the recovery of Dave."
Firefighters reminded boaters to wear a life jacket onboard.
