Police have released the identities of the two bodies found Monday afternoon amid a search for fishermen who went missing in a west Orange County lake over the weekend.

Bodies found, identified in search for 2 missing fishermen



Dive teams spent hours searching Lake Hiawassee on Sunday



Family, friends say 2 missing men could swim



Police have identified the men as Antonio Maurice Payne, 46, and Steven Lavell Nichols, 48.

The two fishermen went missing Sunday afternoon. Friends and family said the men are longtime friends, fished together often and knew how to swim.

Dive teams spent several hours in the lake Sunday. Officials recovered the canoe and found a wallet belonging to one man and the keys to a truck parked on shore that belonged to the other man in the canoe.

"Nobody (in the area) was familiar with the canoe or why it would be in the water," Orlando Fire District Chief Walter Lewis said. "A vehicle was found nearby that may have been the driving vehicle to bring it here."

Neither boater was wearing a life jacket, but only one life jacket was found aboard the fishing vessel, Orlando Fire said late Monday.