The body of a man who went into the water at Donnell Pond in Franklin, Maine, Sunday evening was discovered Monday morning. The man was boating with four others when he jumped into the water toretrieve a bottle, but never resurfaced.
Warden Services say witnesses contacted them just after 5:30 p.m. on Sunday and told them 33-year-old Ian MacDonnell of Bar Harbor jumped from their motor boat into the water, but didn't come back up.
Witnesses say the man started to struggle in the water, so the other boaters threw him a line and began to pull him in.
That's when MacDonnell went underwater and never resurfaced.
The man was reportedly underwater for 6 minutes when Warden Service got the call. They say MacDonnell wasn't wearing a life jacket.
"We always tell people always wear a life jacket. It may be August, but still accidents do happen. In this case the boat had all the legal requirements that we require as far as life jackets. Plenty for everybody on board, it's just the occupants weren't wearing them," said Game Warden Eric Rudolph.
The Maine Warden Service says that although it's not required by law for boaters to wear a life vest when on the water, the vests do save lives. Dive teams searched the pond for MacDonnell's body until dark Sunday night and returned early Monday morning. The body was recovered at 10 am. The drowning is still under investigation.
