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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Drowned man recovered from Twin Lakes

A 65-year-old man drowned in Twin Lakes below the Twin Lakes Village Golf Course Friday afternoon.

The man was on a boat with his wife and another couple Friday shortly before 1 p.m. when he said he was going to jump in the lake to cool off, said Northern Lakes Fire Department spokesman Jim Lyon. The man jumped in and swam around a little, then called for help before vanishing under the water, Lyon said.

“At least one of the folks jumped in to get him but couldn’t find him,” he said.

Several bystanders rushed to help, including one woman who swam out from a nearby dock. They made repeated dives searching for the man but could not find him, Lyon said.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office dive team responded and searched for more than an hour before shifting to a recovery mission instead of a rescue, Lyon said. The dive team did a search grid and a boat with a side scan sonar was brought in to help search for the man’s body. His body was found Friday evening.

The man was several hundred feet from shore and in water about 18 feet deep when he disappeared. The visibility underwater is extremely limited because of silt and milfoil, Lyon said.