Drowning at Wind Lake in Racine County, crews search for 77-year-old man

RACINE COUNTY -- A drowning at Wind Lake in Racine. Crews have been searching the water since shortly after 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 29th after a man went missing after trying to recover something that he dropped out of a pontoon.

This has turned from a rescue to a recovery effort.

According to the Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling, a 77-year-old man was on the water in a pontoon boat with his wife and two dogs.

The Racine County Sheriff says something fell in the water and the man went into the lake to get it. At some point, he went under water and his wife and two dogs went in the lake after him. Unfortunately, they were not able to locate him.

The wife and dogs were able to reach safety at a sandbar.

The sheriff says this was an every day boat trip that turned tragic.

"These are individuals who are very experienced. They had been on this lake before, they live in this area. They have a pontoon boat from what I'm told. This is a routine trip for them out in the water. A very relaxing trip, what should've been a relaxing trip with their family pets, turned very unfortunate for them," said Schmaling.

The Wind Lake Fire Chief says the current in the water is very strong today. Crews will be out throughout the night searching for the man. They are using sonar and other technology trying to recover the man's body.

 

FOX6 News will continue to update this story when more information is available.

Wind Lake scene