Miller County Emergency Management Dive Team members recovered two bodies along with two handguns and a cellphone Saturday morning from Lake Dieffenbacher in Bobby Ferguson Park -- but it was just for practice.
The team members were conducting their first recovery training event to showcase their abilities, said the county's Office of Emergency Management Director Joe Bennett.
During Saturday's exercise, the team's recovery operations involved finding a mannequin and a Halloween Skeleton in about 15 feet of water. The weapons and cellphone were recovered from a murky depth where visibility was limited to about 10 inches.
"This is the team's first annual exercise since it reformed earlier this year," Bennett said. "They have gone on to receive their dive team certifications and today, they are showing us what they've learned in the last six months regarding under water searches for recovering potential discarded crime scene evidence."