An Amazon software engineer from Austin, Texas, died after being pulled unresponsive from Lake Tahoe on Monday evening. Yadessa Aga, 32, was swimming toward offshore granite boulders at Sand Harbor State Park when he disappeared beneath the surface.
Deputies with the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office responded to the North Sand Harbor boat ramp around 8 p.m. Monday after receiving reports of a possible water rescue. Bystanders entered the water and brought Aga to shore, where deputies began CPR. Emergency medical personnel continued resuscitation attempts but pronounced Aga deceased at the scene.
The Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner’s Office identified Aga. His official cause of death has not yet been determined as the investigation remains ongoing. Authorities are treating the incident as an apparent accidental drowning.
Justin Norton, operations manager for the Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner’s Office, stated that the case is pending further investigation and no cause of death has been released. Completed examination reports typically take between 10 and 12 weeks.
A colleague remembered Aga on LinkedIn as an "exceptional" employee and a "team player."
Sand Harbor State Park, located on Lake Tahoe's eastern shoreline, attracts over a million visitors annually and is known for its clear waters and granite rock formations. According to the Take Care Tahoe public safety campaign, cold water shock contributes to an average of about seven drownings on the lake each year. This incident follows another drowning near Sand Harbor in June, and a death in August 2024 near Bonsai Rock on the East Shore.