Man Found Dead in McKinley Park Pond

EAST SACRAMENTO -- A death investigation was launched after a park volunteer found a body in the pond at McKinley Park Monday morning.

East Sacramento’s popular park is typically filled with children playing, people exercising and ducks and geese in the pond.

Judy McClaver goes to McKinley Park every day.

"I come over early in the morning and feed the ducks and the squirrels," McClaver told FOX40.

But at sunrise Monday morning, she saw something disturbing. She got out her binoculars for a closer look and saw that it was a body.

"That's when we called 911," McClaver recalled.

Investigators say a man’s body was pulled from the pond.

"At this time it’s not being investigated as a homicide," said Sacramento police Sgt. Vance Chandler.

Sacramento police say they found nothing suspicious and no trauma to the body.

With a death investigation underway, McClaver has pushed for something to be done.

"So I'm asking, again, for a fence," she said.

In 2015, McClaver discovered a body in the pond. She wanted a fence put up then, but it didn’t happen.

Now, she’s written a letter to the mayor and city leaders hoping for more to be done.

"There’s no lights and it looks like a big, black, open field," McClaver said. "It's very easy to fall in."

"The safety issue they probably got to pay a little bit more attention about that," said Robert, an East Sacramento resident.

While some neighbors were concerned about safety, others believed a fence would change the feel of the tranquil part of the popular park.

"I like the openness of it," said Jody Henderson, who walks her dogs at McKinley Park.

A fence separates the children’s playground from the pond. McClaver told FOX40 she wants to see something like that wrapping around the perimeter of the entire pond.

FOX40 spoke to the mayor's office but they said they are not commenting at this time.
