A man died after a canoe overturned at Adventure Trails campground in Bellefontaine, Ohio, according to the Logan County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies responded on September 6 to reports of a 28-year-old man who went underwater and did not resurface.
Authorities said the man was camping for the weekend with his girlfriend and her 5-year-old daughter. The incident occurred when the man took the child out on a canoe in a large pond. According to deputies, the girl began screaming as water started filling the canoe.
The girl’s mother used a kayak to reach them and rescued her daughter from the sinking canoe. However, deputies reported that her boyfriend went underwater during the rescue attempt. After bringing her daughter to safety, the woman swam back out toward the overturned canoe.
When law enforcement arrived, several deputies entered the pond and assisted the woman, who was struggling to swim at that point. Officials stated that she told them she believed her boyfriend might have been trapped under the canoe.
Rescue teams searched for several hours but could not locate him immediately. His body was recovered around 7:30 p.m., approximately six hours after the incident began.
Authorities noted that the man was not wearing a life jacket at the time of the accident.
Bellefontaine is located about 60 miles northwest of Columbus.
