A 55-year-old Kansas City, Kansas, man drowned on Wednesday, Aug. 8, at Tanglewood Lake, a private lake in Linn County, Kansas, according to the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism.
The victm was identified as Melvin Eugene Stierwalt, of Kansas City, Kansas.
The drowning is being investigated by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism.
Witnesses told authorities that the victim had been swimming with them near a swimming platform, according to information from the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism. They saw the victim jump off the platform into the water, but did not think there was anything wrong at that time.
Some time later, they reported they could not find the victim, and they called authorities, according to the KDWPT. The call came in to the Linn County Sheriff’s Office about 12:12 a.m. Aug. 8.
A search of the lake and area was conducted by authorities in the early morning hours, but they were unable to locate the victim. The search was called off until it was light enough to resume.
About 8:30 a.m., game wardens began searching the water in a patrol boat and sheriff’s deputies searched the shoreline. The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism patrol boat was equipped with side-scanning sonar.
Game wardens recovered the victim’s body about 12:05 p.m. Wednesday.