The body of former Columbia firefighter Durham DeLaura was found in Lake Murray Sunday morning.
“He was found around 10 a.m., said Capt. Robert McCullough, spokesman for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. “A Lexington County deputy spotted Mr. DeLaura.”

Officials believe DeLaura, 35, fell out of his 15-foot boat on the evening of Aug. 25, near Sandy Beach at Bundrick Island. His his four-year-old daughter was alone in the boat, with it drifting. The child was reunited with her family after being found.

DeLaura’s body took nine days before it was spotted on the surface. McCullough said that is a relatively short time for resurfacing. He said he has seen a lapse of 180 days before a body appears on the surface of the water.

McCullough also said every situation, in which someone goes missing under water, is different.  But some of the search for DeLaura was based in a strategy that placed divers looking in water more than 100-feet deep. He said with the small amount of time between the disappearance and finding DeLaura, the body was likely in less-than 50-feet of water.
McCullough also said recovering DeLaura’s body can allow for the opportunity to move forward. “It’s just so hard, but this is part of the process of closure,” he said.

Durham DeLaura (CFD Photo)