Tempe authorities have recovered what they believe is the body of Willie Jigba, 24, from Tempe Town Lake Friday morning.

Tempe police and fire department officials steered a boat to the lake's shore with the body in tow just before 11 a.m. Friday. Jigba has been missing since Jan. 15.

Rescue crew searched for missing man

The clothing and physical characteristics matched Jigba's, but a proper identification would have to come from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's office, said Sgt. Steve Carbajal, spokesman for Tempe Police Department.

Authorities had searched the lake the previous two days. The body surfaced just outside the search grid on the north side of the lake, where divers had been probing by hand in almost zero visibility water.

The search had been called off, but a member of the dive team, Chuck Herman, decided to return to the lake this morning and saw the body floating on the surface. The case is being treated as a death investigation, not a homicide.

Search efforts were directed toward the lake because Jigba apparently would have had to cross the lake to return home from a Jan. 15 party where he was last seen between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m.

The party was at Sotelo Aparetments in the 600 block of East Weber Drive.

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