Man drowns in Wis. River
PORT EDWARDS, Wis. (AP) – A man drowned in the Wisconsin River early Wednesday after he and a friend became disoriented and walked onto thin ice in the predawn darkness, authorities said.
The body of 21-year-old Jack Lowell, of Nekoosa, was pulled from the river less than an hour after officials were notified of the accident at 2:47 a.m., Port Edwards Police Officer Chuck Lamb said.
Gabor Holczer, deputy coroner for Wood County, ruled the death an accidental drowning.
Lowell and Keith Kruger, 20, of Nekoosa, were walking home from a friend’s home in the village of Port Edwards when they went through a wooded area and then onto the ice, Lamb said. The trees, darkness and cold made it easy for the two to become disoriented, Lamb said, and they didn’t realize they were close to the treatment plant, where the ice is thin.
Kruger tried to help Lowell after he fell in the water, but the thin ice prevented him from getting close enough, so he ran to Highway 73 and flagged down a passing motorist.
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