Town of Linn man drowns in Geneva Lake while ice fishing

TOWN OF LINN -- A Town of Linn man is dead after drowning in Geneva Lake early Tuesday morning, January 24th. The victim has been identified as Michael Zielinski.

The Town of Linn police were dispatched to the Linn Pier Boat launch on the south side of Geneva Lake around 3:30 p.m. for a welfare check on a male subject, later identified as Zielinski.

Police say Zielinski's pickup truck was parked at the pier as he had gone out on the lake to ice fish sometime around 3 a.m., and was no where to be found.

The welfare check was called in by Michael's wife -- who informed officers on scene that she had been attempting to contact Michael on his cellphone all day to check on him, but he never answered. His wife told police she looked around the shoreline for Michael, but was unable to locate him there or see him on the lake.

The Town of Linn Police Department deployed its drone, equipped with a Forward Looking InfraRed (FLIR) camera, to perform an aerial search of the lake and shorelines. Within approximately four minutes, officials obtained a faint heat signature in the water. After closer inspection of that heat signature, officials confirmed it to be Michael Zielinski.

Zielinski's body, along with his fishing equipment, was located approximately 1,036 feet from the south shore of the lake -- northwest of the Linn Pier.

Officials say it is unclear how long Zielinski had been down for, but his wife did note that his cell phone went right to voicemail starting around 7 a.m.

Linn Fire was dispatched immediately to the scene for the water rescue/recovery. Linn Fire Department divers, assisted by the City of Lake Geneva Fire Department's air boat, recovered Zielinski's body.

Zielinski was pronounced dead at the scene.