A man found dead in Branched Oak Lake on Wednesday night has been identified as a Lincoln resident, but authorities have not made public his identity pending notification of family, authorites said Friday.

The Lancaster County Sheriff's Office said investigators used the man's fingerprints to secure his identity. Deputies also have served a search warrant on the man's home. An autopsy — which should produce a cause of death — is scheduled for Saturday.

On Thursday, Water rescue workers helped investigators search the shoreline at Branched Oak Lake, looking for clues.

Sheriff Terry Wagner said deputies were called to Area 13, on the north end of the dam, just before 7 p.m. Wednesday about a body in the water. Wagner said Thursday they did not know how long he had been in the water.

The man was described as an adult black man with a receding hairline, a small bald spot on the crown of his head and a black mustache with slight stubble. He had a prominent gap between his front two teeth.

Wagner said he was wearing a blue striped long sleeve shirt, a blue Hanes-brand T-shirt, green dress slacks and a brown belt with a brass buckle and white socks.

He didn’t have shoes on and didn’t have a wallet on him, nor did the man match any missing person reports made to the sheriff’s office or Lincoln police.

A man walking the shoreline along the dam looking for fishing lures snagged along rocks or branches discovered the body, partially submerged in shallow water, shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday

“It’s being investigated as a suspicious death,” Wagner said Thursday. “We’ll await an autopsy to determine foul play.”

They’ll also try to find his shoes and try to find out why he didn’t have them on when he was found. And they’ll try to determine how he got to the lake.

Wagner said Nebraska Game & Parks was helping search the park grounds for a vehicle.

“Those are the kinds of things that we’re looking for,” he said.

Crime scene technicians went to the scene Wednesday night and continued the work Thursday, trying to piece together what happened. They surveyed the area and combed the ground for clues.

Patrol cars filled the parking lot for fishing Area 13, but it was quiet late in the morning.

By early afternoon, a Nebraska State Patrol helicopter swept the area. And water rescue workers with Lincoln Fire & Rescue arrived.

Their goal? “To just search that shoreline and make sure we’re not missing anything,” Wagner said.

Reach Lori Pilger at 473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com.