AUBURN, MASS. (WHDH) - Divers pulled the body of a drowning victim from an Auburn reservoir Friday morning after a powerboat was found unattended, officials said.
Emergency crews responding to a reported boating accident on Dark Brook Reservoir off of Bryn Mawr Avenue around 6 p.m. on Thursday found the boat involved but not the person who was on board, according to Auburn Deputy Fire Chief Glenn Johnson.
Search teams returned to the scene on Friday morning and worked for nearly two hours before a trained rescue dog located the body of the missing boater around 9:30 a.m., Johnson told reporters.
“The canine is trained to look for human remains and he can scent them in the water as well,” Johnson said. “This time, he pinpointed them within 20 feet.”
The victim, whose name has not been released, was found in about 18 feet of water.
Witnesses said they had seen a man on a powerboat but later saw the boat spinning around with no one on board.
Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said the man likely fell from the boat.
Auburn Police Det. Scott Mills said the search for the missing boater proved complicated due to all the weeds in the reservoir.
“We use sonar and do everything we can to try and locate the person and from there we will continue our investigation,” he said. “It is a good size body of water and the area we are talking about is in the area of a thousand yards, anywhere between 6 to 10 feet.”
Members of the Auburn police and fire departments scoured the reservoir late into Thursday evening but suspended their search as darkness fell. They returned around 7:30 a.m. Friday.
The incident remains under investigation.
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