DENVER (KDVR) — Early Sunday morning, Colorado Parks and Wildlife's Marine Evidence Recovery Team retrieved the body of a man from the Harvey Gap Reservoir at Harvey Gap State Park, north of Rifle.

CPW said that it received multiple in-person reports of a possible missing person at Harvey Gap Reservoir on Saturday at about 8:30 p.m. One report was made by the family of the missing individual. CPW said the family indicated they hadn't seen the missing person for over three hours.

CPW officers discovered what has been determined to be the victim's paddleboard on the shore of the reservoir. The craft was placed there intentionally, according to CPW, along with paddles and a life jacket.

"Based on information gathered during the investigation, it is believed that the victim went for a swim in an area of the reservoir where swimming is not allowed, after paddleboarding," CPW said in a Sunday press release.

Officers searched the shoreline and used sonar to search the lake, aided by the Colorado State Patrol and Garfield County Search and Rescue, which used a K-9 trained to detect human scent on both land and water.

After the victim hadn't been located and was missing in the water for a long time, efforts shifted from search and rescue to recovery.

Around 4:30 a.m., a CPW Marine Evidence Recovery Team from Littleton arrived on scene and began using a remote-operated vehicle — equipped with sonar, lights and video — and located the missing person's body near the reservoir, where search workers had identified as a possible location earlier in the search.

Using the remote-operated vehicle, the victim's body was recovered and brought back to the surface. CPW said Sunday that the events leading to the victim going underwater are unknown, but strong wind gusts had been reported in the area at the time they went missing.

“This is a heartbreaking tragedy and we send our deepest sympathies to the family of this victim,” Harvey Gap State Park Manager Brian Palcer said in CPW's release. “We hope that this recovery will bring a little comfort to the family and friends as they mourn the loss of their loved one.”

The Garfield County Coroner has the body and will determine the cause of death. If the cause is drowning, this would be the fifth recreation-related drowning in Colorado this year.