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Investigators believe deaths of friends found in Lake Erie were accidental

Detectives say no signs of trauma
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Posted at 4:16 PM, Mar 30, 2021
and last updated 2021-03-30 18:52:21-04

LORAIN, OH — Investigators said Tuesday they believe the deaths of two friends found in Lake Erie were the result of an accident.

Alaina Camacho and her longtime friend Nathan Orona were last seen leaving Orona's apartment in Camacho's gold Honda Accord early on February 1.

On Sunday, a fisherman spotted Orona's body in Lake Erie just east of the Hot Waters boat launch in Lorain.

Divers found Camacho's car in Lake Erie near the end of a nearby pier Monday.

Investigators said Camacho's body was in the driver's seat.

RELATED: Alaina Camacho's body, gold car pulled from Lake Erie

Detectives said there were no signs of trauma on either body and now assume the car had been in the lake since February 1.

Tuesday, mourners placed stuffed animals and flowers near where crews pulled Camacho's car out of the lake a day before.

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Stuffed animals left on the pier near where the bodies of Alaina Camacho and Nathan Orona were pulled out of Lake Erie on Sunday and Monday.

"I feel numb," said Hailey Mehallick. "I don't feel anything right now. She was the only person I talked to, my only friend."

Mehallick said none of what happened made any sense.

"We would hang out at the pier over there, but we would never come down this way, ever," said Mehallik.

On Tuesday, Camacho's family asked for privacy, but a day earlier her uncle said he doubted if the family would ever get a clear picture of what led to his niece's death at the unlit end of the pier.

"You never know what could have happened," said Albert Camacho. "One mistake in a vehicle, put in drive or reverse and go the wrong way, you can end up right over that and then it's hard to get out of."

The Lorain County Coroner's Office performed autopsies on both bodies but said it could take three weeks to receive the results of toxicology tests and rule how the pair died.

Investigators hope to learn more then.