Third Body Recovered at Lake Beulah after Canoe Accident
Divers at Lake Beulah have recovered a third body connected to a quadruple-fatal canoe accident that happened early Sunday morning.
Walworth County Sheriff Kurt Picknell said crews recovered the body around 3 p.m. less than 100 yards from where two other bodies were found on the Lake.
Authorities have released the names of the bodies recovered on Sunday. The two young men are from Illinois and have been identified as 20-year-old Lanny Patrick Sack and 21-year-old Christopher J. McQuillan.
The identity of the third body is being withheld at this time.
"Generally where the boats are working back and forth right there - that's the area of concentration and most interest," Sheriff Picknell said during a news conference.
DNR Warden Jason Roberts has been working with the crews on the lake for the past two days. All of the victims are expected to be between the ages of 20 and 23, he said.
The group was at a friend's parents house and had been drinking. Authorities say they don't know if the drinking played a contributing factor in their deaths. What they do know is the group was last seen at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday.
"The other people in the home in the morning found foot tracks from the house to the boathouse, found the canoe missing. They walked out to the water's edge and saw an overturned canoe out on the lake. At that point they contacted rescue people," Roberts said.
None of the recovered bodies were found wearing life jackets. Authorities have also been using sonar for a better look underwater.
"Hypothermia's difficult. A healthy individual, a healthy person - depending on your swimming skills or whether or not you have a life jacket on - really contributes to how long you can last in waters like this," Roberts said.
Multiple dive teams are now involved in the search including Waukesha County's as well as Racine county's. Sheriff Picknell said those teams are looking in water that's about 25 feet deep.