Sheriff's office: Pair found in lake near Lorain died accidentally

LORAIN — The death of two adults recovered from Hot Waters boat launch has been ruled accidental by the Lorain County coroner. Nathan Orona, 20, of Lorain, and Alaina Camacho, 18, of Cleveland, went missing Feb. 1. Orona's body was recovered March 28 from Lake Erie after he came to the surface and was spotted by a fisherman near the pier. Camacho and her car were pulled from the water the day after — almost two months after their disappearance. Lorain County Coroner Frank Miller's final report confirms the pair had been in the water since they went missing. Their cause of death was ruled drowning, along with environmental hypothermia and ruled an accident. During the investigations, detectives determined the headlights were off on the car driven by Camacho before it went into the water, according to a Lorain County Sheriff's Office news release. Detectives looked for hot shock deformation, or uncoiling or deformation of the filament. The more uncoiling or deformation of the filament, the stronger the evidence that the lamp was on. According to LCSO there was no deformation, indicating that the headlights were off before going off the end of the pier and into the frigid water. The car was traveling 15 to 20 mph when it went over the edge of the pier, Lt. Robert Vansant said. The edge of the pier has a small ledge, which cracked the hubcap on the front tire, he said. Toxicology reports show both had alcohol and cannabinoids in their system at their time of death. Orona and Camacho were last seen leaving Orona's mother's apartment in Sheffield Estates about 1:40 a.m. Feb. 1. Heavy snowfall blocked some of the last security footage of the two, which showed Camacho picking Orona up in her gold Honda Accord before turning left onto O'Neill Boulevard toward Elyria Avenue. In the weeks that followed, family and friends searched for some sign of their loved ones, including taking boats to Hot Waters and other waterways, but they were unable to search along the bottom of the lake where Camacho's car ultimately was found. Vansant said there was no indication to prompt deputies to search the water. When he got the call that Orona's body had been found, his stomach dropped. "It wasn't like it was a place that they would frequent or someone had seen them there — those would be indicators that would give us something of a starting point," he said. "We didn't have any of those things." While the family road dirt bikes and four-wheelers through the northern part of the county, deputies attempted to track the pair's phones, social media and bank activity, but there was nothing, Vansant said. "Fortunately for the family that he did try to kick the (car) window out, had he not surfaced I don't think we would've ever found them," he said. Orona's aunt, Jennifer Sanabria had organized several search parties for the pair. After receiving notification of the coroner's ruling she said it does not get easier for the family. "We're missing him like crazy," she said. "... I was really wishing he would be here and we found him. I pray more for his mother, because if I'm this broken, I can only imagine the pain of a mother losing her child — that goes for all the mothers out there in the world. The wound in our hearts will never be healed, all we can do is pray everyday and keep pushing forward." City Councilman Rey Carrion, D-6th Ward, hosted several news conferences while the two were missing and offered his condolences to the families. Both originally were from South Lorain. "I'm still devastated by this tragic loss," he said. "My only hope is that both families can have closure. My heart goes out to them." Camacho's uncle, Albert, who was heavily involved in the search efforts, could not be reached Friday. Orona and Camacho's deaths prompted the city of Lorain to put up a barrier at the end of the pier to prevent others from accidentally driving into the lake. With the ruling from the coroner's office, the investigation is considered closed. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.