The Merced County Sheriff’s Department recovered a body from the Delta Mendota canal on Tuesday that has been identified as that of a missing fisherman.

The sheriff’s department identified the deceased on Wednesday as David Alan Lauderdale, 48, of Florida. Sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Tom MacKenzie said Lauderdale had been staying at a Snelling motel and that he was fishing at the canal the night of his disappearance.

According to the sheriff’s department, the accident occurred around 11 p.m. Saturday when Lauderdale dropped his fishing pole and fell into the canal while trying to retrieve it. MacKenzie said the steep canal banks and the swift currents hampered Lauderdale’s escape from the water.

A dive team searched the area of the Gravel Creek Bridge, near Gustine where Lauderdale fell in, but had no success in finding him.

The body was recovered on Tuesday near the area of Creek Road in Los Banos, which is about 15 miles from where he fell in.