By Tracy Ouellette
STAFF WRITER
As of Wednesday morning, the bodies of three of the four men who took a canoe out on Mill Lake in the early hours of Jan. 3 and went missing had been recovered while dive teams continued to search for the missing fourth man.
Mill Lake is on the northern end of the Lake Beulah chain of lakes in East Troy township.
Friends last saw the four men at about 2 a.m. Sunday. They had been staying at a home on Lake Beulah in a group of about a dozen friends and had been drinking before they disappeared, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Warden Jason Roberts said.
“We talked to everyone in the house and the witnesses stated they were all drinking,” Roberts said. “They were together at a friend’s lake house.”
Roberts didn’t say alcohol was the cause of the tragedy but said it was probably a factor.
“It takes a special skill set to survive in 34-degree water and none of these men had those skills,” he said Monday night. “And they weren’t wearing personal floatation devices, which should always be worn when on the water.”
When the friends at the house realized the four men hadn’t returned by about 11 a.m., they called the police, Town of East Troy Police Chief James Surges said at a press conference Sunday afternoon.
Two of the bodies were recovered Sunday afternoon and have been identified by as Lanny Patrick Sack, 20, and Christopher J. McQuillen, 21, of Illinois. All four men were from the suburban Chicago area, according to authorities. The third body, recovered late Monday afternoon, was identified as Mori Weinstein, 21.
The search for the missing boater resumed at 7 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Roberts said the recovery has been tough for rescue personnel and the dive teams with the water temperature hovering around the freezing point.
“It’s challenging for the divers, for the equipment and for the scuba gear,” he said. “We’ve been rotating dive teams in and out of the water.”
He said they were hoping to find the fourth man soon and were thankful the forecast for the next few days was favorable.
“We have a pretty good window here,” Roberts said. “We want to get this resolved. Like the Walworth County Sheriff said, we want to give the families closure.”
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is leading the investigation assisted by Walworth County Sheriff, the Town of East Troy Police Department and the Walworth County Medical Examiner, according to a press release from the DNR.
Also assisting in the search are the: Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office, Racine County Sheriff’s Office, Air1, fire departments from East Troy, Mukwonago, Vernon, Elkhorn, Lake Geneva, North Prairie and the Town of Delavan and public works departments from Walworth County and the Town of East Troy.
DNR officials offer these safety tips for anyone planning to venture outdoors around ice or open water during the winter:
If you do go on the ice:
- Dress warmly in layers;
- Don’t go alone. Head out with friends or family. Take a cell phone if available, and make sure someone knows where you are and when you are expected to return;
- Know before you go. Don’t travel in areas you are not familiar and don’t travel at night or during reduced visibility;
- Avoid inlets, outlets or narrow that may have current that can thin the ice;
- Look for clear ice, which is generally stronger than ice with snow on it or bubbles in it;
- Carry some basic safety gear: ice claws or picks, a cellphone in a waterproof bag or case, a life jacket and length of rope; and
- Do not venture out if you have been enjoying alcoholic beverages.
If you go through the ice:
- Wear flotation garments that provide buoyancy – such as a float coat or a life vest or a regular jacket;
- Carry a set of ice awls or picks in your pocket to help you climb out of the ice hole;
- Once out of the ice hole, do not stand up. Rather, walk on your forearms until the majority of your body is on solid surface;
For more tips, the DNR also has information on its website at dnr.wi.gov about what to do should you fall through the ice and how to make ice claws.
Staff Writer Jennifer Eisenbart contributed to this story.
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