Fourth Body Recovered at Mill Lake

Walworth County Sheriff's Office recovered the fourth victim on Friday at Mill Lake.

Mill Lake is part of the chain of lakes of Lake Beulah.

The victim was identified as Patrick M. Wetzel, age 21. 

This completes the search for the missing subjects as reported, and Mill Lake is now open to the public.

The victim’s family would like to express their thanks for all of the efforts to everyone involved in this incident. 

An early morning canoe trip in Walworth County turned deadly Sunday.

Officials had been searching for the bodies by air and water since 11:00 AM Sunday morning.

Police say a group of about 12 friends from Illinois were drinking at one of their homes on Mill Lake and around 2:00 AM, four men age 20 to 23 decided to take a canoe out on the water.

“Essentially people walked out to the water’s edge, presumably got into a canoe, and at some point the canoe overturned,” officials said.

RELATED LINK: Third Victim Identified in Canoe Accident

The other friends went to sleep not realizing their friends never came back, “they woke up this morning and noticed four people were missing, went outside and saw four foot tracks down to the boathouse, saw the overturned canoe and called police.”

But police say given the conditions they feared the worst, "obviously, the circumstances of the water temperature and the time they may have gone in the water precluded any rescue."

Share this article: