After a thorough search that ended around 11 p.m. on Tuesday night, authorities located the body of the person who had gone missing while swimming in Pat Mayse Lake.
At around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the Lamar County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call of a possible drowning when one of three friends did not return to shore after swimming in the lake, according to Lamar County Sheriff Scott Cass.
“Deputies arrived at a location on the west side of Pat Mayse Lake at the old Hippie Point area,” the sheriff said. “Officers learned that an 18-year-old female had gone missing while out in the water swimming with her two friends.”
All three of the swimmers had allegedly walked out on a submerged sandbar in the lake and the victim stepped into deep water. The two friends attempted to retrieve the victim back to shore but were unsuccessful, the sheriff said.
Both friends made it back to the shore and the victim could not be located. One of the friends then called 911.
“Sheriff Deputies, State Game Wardens from Lamar and Delta Counties, an Army Corp of Engineers Park Ranger, the Paris Fire Department Dive Team and several volunteer fire departments responded to the scene and searched a large area of the lake where witnesses last saw the victim,” Cass said.
After searching for approximately six hours, a citizen and state game wardens using side scan sonar devices located the victim just southwest of the sandbar that she was walking on.
Dive team personnel from the volunteer fire departments recovered the victim, the sheriff said.
The name of the victim is not being released at this time until the family can be notified. The victim is from the Denton County area.
Lamar County Justice of the Peace, Tim Risinger, conducted an inquest at the scene and sent the deceased to American Forensics for autopsy. A Texas State Game Warden’s investigation to continue.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family,” Cass said.
By Josh Allen, eParisExtra