Authorities recovered the body of a 21-year-old Hispanic man from a Pasquotank County pond late Monday night, the apparent victim of a drowning.

The victim's name and address were not immediately released because authorities were still trying to reach his next of kin in Mexico, Pasquotank Sheriff Randy Cartwright said.

According to Cartwright, the man's body was found in the center of the pond off Pitts Chapel Road about 10:15 p.m., not far from where the man was last seen swimming Sunday evening.

The man, a farm worker, had gone swimming in the pond, a former sand pit, with another man about 6 p.m. Sunday, Cartwright said.

When the second man got out of the pond shortly afterward, he noticed the first man apparently having trouble in the water.

"The second man saw him go down (under the water), then he saw him come back up and then go down again," Cartwright said.

After authorities were notified, rescuers searched without success Sunday night for the missing swimmer. Initially, authorities were going to send in a dive team to find the man's body. However, the heavy presence of debris in the pond made it too dangerous to do so, Cartwright said.

"The pond had been filled in with old stumps, old houses that had been torn down .... It was hard to maneuver even a boat there," he said.

On Monday, authorities began draining the pond by pumping out water. According to Cartwright, the water level in the 15- to 20-foot-deep pond had to be lowered nearly 8 feet before searchers were able to see the man's body.

No foul play is suspected and the man's death has been ruled an accidental drowning, Cartwright said. His body was sent to a state medical examiner's office for an autopsy.

The sheriff did not know yet if the man, a native of Mexico, was working legally in the United States.

Cartwright said the man worked for a crew that picked cabbage, potatoes and other produce. The crew was currently working under contract for Warren Meads & Sons Produce, Cartwright said. No one answered the phone at the business Tuesday afternoon.

According to Cartwright, a number of small ponds are located in the area where the man drowned. He declined to say who owns the land where the drowning occurred, but said it is posted with "No Trespassing" signs.

"But that doesn't stop people from swimming in (the ponds)," he said.