PENITAS – A Penitas family is mourning the loss of their loved one.

Juan Sandoval drowned Saturday. He was trying to save his daughter who was struggling in the waters at Falcon Lake.

The family is now urging caution to others who frequent the lake.

"We would go anytime he had a weekend off. That was our family time," said Sandoval.

She said it was a normal family outing. She and her daughter were cooling off in the water. Her three other children were on the shoreline, playing with a ball when it went into the water.

"The ball went a little too far, she tried getting it, she tried going after the ball," Sandoval said. "She was having trouble coming back and he just went in after her."

Sandoval said although her husband, Juan, could swim he began to struggle too.

"My father-in-law went in to help. He grabbed her, but he couldn't grab him," Sandoval said.

A family with a boat tried to help them, but it was too late.

"They couldn't find him," Sandoval said. "They just kept searching, but they couldn't find him."

Juan's body was pulled from the water three hours later.

Lieutenant Michael Luna, McAllen firefighter and member of Texas Task Force 1 Water Rescue, said open water can be dangerous.

"The risk with open water swimming, especially with lakes of that nature or canals, you never know what's underneath," said Luna.

The concern is more than just the debris or marine life lurking below.

"Lake areas can have under toes," Luna said. "By the time they would feel the undertow it would already be too late."

The Sandoval family is holding each other close while mourning the loss of the man who was not only the sole provider, but the glue that kept their family together.