With the help of DNA provided by the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, the California Department of Justice has confirmed the identities of two bodies recovered from Fallen Leaf Lake in August and October 2017. The woman recovered August 29 was identified through DNA as 71-year-old Cynthia Ellis of South Lake Tahoe. Ellis disappeared in 2001, and investigators believed she committed suicide by drowning. The man recovered October 27 was identified through DNA as 74-year-old Michael Whalen. Whalen disappeared in 2004 after traveling to the Lake Tahoe area from Florida. Whalen arrived in the South Lake Tahoe area in his van, carrying a brown, wood-colored canoe. Whalen’s van was found near Fallen Leaf Lake in late 2004. Whalen’s canoe still has not been found.  The bodies were found with the efforts of Bruce’s Legacy, the Fallen Leaf Fire Department, El Dorado County Search and Rescue and the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.