Authorities say one of three kayakers from Pennsylvania who went missing during an outing off Lake Ontario’s New York shore has been found dead in the water.
The other two made it to shore safely.
Police Chief John Yotter, of the town of Somerset, says the body was found Tuesday morning along the Orleans County shoreline by the crew of a U.S. Coast Guard boat.
He says the other two kayakers made it to shore earlier and asked for help at a lakeside home.
Police say the men left Monday afternoon from a state park boat launch in Somerset, in neighboring Niagara county 35 miles northeast of Buffalo.
Lake Ontario ‘got pretty choppy,’ Niagara County Sheriff James R. Voutour said.
Authorities say one of three kayakers from Pennsylvania who went missing during an outing off Lake Ontario’s New York shore has been found dead in the water. The image shows law enforcement officials investigating near the shore of Lake Ontario in Somerset, New York
The men – one 19-year-old and two 21-year-olds – were reported missing around 6pm
The Coast Guard and local authorities launched a search.
The men’s hometowns haven’t been released officially, but reports indicate that they are from Pennsylvania.
The dead kayaker is the twin brother of one of the survivors, according to The Buffalo News.
The kayakers were on a trip, visiting the home of the twins’ grandfather in nearby Barker.
They were each believed to have had their own kayaks – one of which was green, another red, and the other blue, according to the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard said the three men were wearing life vests, but that they paddled out to the lake without their mobile phones, which they left in their cars that were parked at Golden Hill State Park.
The search was aided by a number of agencies, including the Coast Guard, State Parks Police, Somerset Police, the fire departments of Olcott and Barker, and the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Corporal Teather C.V.
The Coast Guard said that the waters on the lake were ‘pretty rough’ with waves up to four feet high.