Las Vegas man remembers mother who drowned at Lake Mead over the weekend

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Cristina Isabel Alvarado-Menendez, 61, was one of two people that drowned at Lake Mead over the weekend.

Steve Alvarado says his mother was the life of the party and was his backbone.

“Single mother, I was the only child, it was just me and her,” Alvarado said. “She would always tell me that I was her left arm, like her backbone. Same for her, she was my backbone, raised me, and it takes a strong woman to raise a man in this world.”

They moved from Los Angeles to the Las Vegas Valley. He said his mother lead a very active lifestyle and loved hiking, dogs and salsa dancing.

“She has loved salsa ever since I can remember, since I was very small, she would be dancing at parties,” he said.

Alvarado said he last heard from his mother on Father’s Day as she was on her way to Lake Mead with her German Shepherd. She was found hours later, underwater, about 300 feet away from shore, according to her son. Park rangers tried to resuscitate her, but she died at the hospital.

He says she died about a month before his wife is due to give birth.

“It was sad that she didn’t get to be a grandma, because she was so excited to be one,” he added. “But her legacy will live on in him, and I will tell him about her, and who she was because she was a great woman. She taught me everything I know and raised me to be the responsible adult that I am.”

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