BOISE, Idaho — Thanks to a non-profit from Wisconsin, an Idaho family now has closure. Bruce’s Legacy found 47-year-old Jose Nunez on August 22, after he drowned in Lucky Peak.
“It's been a struggle,” said Nunez’s girlfriend, Sarah Gracia Mendoza. “It's been a long struggle.”
Gracia-Mendoza told KTVB, Nunez got off a boat at Lucky Peak to swim and never came back up. She says, he was missing for 22 days. The Ada County Sheriff's office searched for Nunez for days, but eventually suspended their efforts, which is when Gracia-Mendoza and Nunez’s loved ones started a GoFundMe page to raise money to bring Bruce's Legacy from Wisconsin to Boise to continue the search.
“We offer a service to families and departments that are looking for drowning victims,” said Founder of Bruce’s Legacy, Keith Cormican.
Bruce’s Legacy was created in honor of Cormican’s brother, Bruce.
“We utilize sonars that are four-foot-long torpedo type devices that are being towed about 15 feet off the bottom, and they translate a very amazing image to us on the boat,” Cormican said.
Bruce’s Legacy also has remote operated vehicle that can dive as deep as 1,600 feet into the water, grab a hold of victims and bring them to the surface.
“It was a hard area to search. There is a lot of variation in depth, which makes it pretty hard, lot of drop offs, a lot of rocky areas, rock walls, there were some trees there,” Cormican said.
After countless hours and days of searching, Bruce’s Legacy recovered Nunez on August 22. The same day, when Cormican’s brother Bruce passed away in a recovery operation as a firefighter 27 years ago.
“So that was pretty, pretty unique for us to have that recovery done on that day,” Cormican said. “I get the feeling that he does watch over us and what we're doing and, I don't know, it certainly happened on that day.”
Nunez’s loved ones now finding closure.
“My legs became weak. I could barely stand I started crying and I was just screaming and like I was just so excited, just exhausted from weeks and weeks of search” Gracia-Mendoza said.
“To help these people in their darkest moments of their lives, is very rewarding” Cormican said. “It truly is to get the hugs from them and that day, we got on the dock and, and Sarah came down and give us you know, get both of us the biggest hugs that you could ever imagine.”
He also revealed to KTVB, in the nine years he's been doing this, Bruce’s Legacy recovered 44 people, now including Nunez.
Gracia-Mendoza says, they want to thank Bruce's Legacy, all of the volunteers and everyone who donated to their GoFundMe page.
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