A sunny Sunday afternoon on the lake turned tragic after emergency workers responded to a drowning at Wellington Lake.
Rescue and EMS were called out to the lake at around 4:18 p.m., after a report of a man having gone under the water, Wellington Police Chief Tracy Heath said. Witnesses said they had seen the man swimming when he went under the water. Wellington Fire Chief John Lloyd said the man had been underwater for about 18 minutes when rescuers arrived on scene.
The man had been out at the lake with family members when he and a female from the party jumped off a boat and decided to swim towards shore, Heath said. While she made it to shore, witnesses said he struggled in the water before going under, Heath said.
The man was less than 30 yards from shore before he started struggling, Heath said.
A search was immediately conducted by the Wellington Fire Department, Lake personnel, Sumner County Emergency Management and Kansas Wildlife and Parks. Lake crews were dragging the bottom, hoping to recover the man quickly, Lloyd said.
The Sumner County Sheriff’s Department cleared the remainder of the boat traffic near the southwest boat landing at the lake as crews continued their search.
The man’s body was found in Roundabout Cove around 8 p.m., Sunday evening, Heath said. Witnesses at the lake were stone-faced and solemn, not wanting to speak about the event, Sunday night.
Though no name has been released, the police chief did say he was a 45 year-old white male from Caldwell. His name should be released Tuesday, Heath said.
No autopsy has been performed, though a toxicology test has be conducted. It will take several weeks before results are known, Heath said. It is unknown if alcohol was a factor in the death, he said.
The last reported drowning at the lake occurred on May 24, 1998 and was eerily similar to the one this weekend.
Tyson Leighty, 18, of Wellington was swimming with his girlfriend and two male friends on the south side of Wellington Lake when he decided to swim to the west buoy and back. After reaching the buoy, he started to swim eastwards but stopped, throwing his hands in the air and yelling for help, a Wellington Daily News article reported.
Leighty was found the next day in about 10 feet of water, 50 to 100 feet from where he was last seen.
The teen had spent his earlier years in Caldwell and was the first drowning in the 20-year history of the Lake, the article reported.
Also on Sunday, a drowning reported at Drury Dam along the Chikaskia River turned out much better for authorities after the man they were searching for walked over to the scene from a wooded area, Sumner County Sheriff Gerald Gilkey said.
As the summer kicks up and more people swim, boat, fish and splash in the lake, Heath says common sense needs to play a role in summer activities.
“We really don’t know what happened in this particular case, we just hope people will make sure that they are...using common sense,” said Heath.
Lloyd said simply following the rules may have prevented the death.
“Swim in the designated areas. This was not a designated area. If you are going to get in the water make sure you have life vests on for all water activities such as skiing and...that they properly fit and are properly buckled. Just be careful, that’s all we can say,” said Lloyd.
Wellington, Kan. —
