Media Coverage
Our page for any media coverage about the team
______________________________________________________
1st Responder News
Watertown volunteers search for boating accident victim
____________________________________________________
Waterbury Republican-American Saturday, June 5th, 2010
No sign of angler 2 hours after canoe capsizes
BY ANDREW LARSON
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
WATERTOWN — Police believe that a 35-year-old man drowned after his canoe capsized in Lockwood Pond on Friday night.
He was fishing on the lake, which is part of Crestbrook Park and Golf Club, with another man and a young boy when the canoe they were in overturned shortly after 9 p.m.
One of the men, and the boy, swam to the shore and were not injured. Family members, who were also at the lake, called 911 to report the third person missing.
As of 11 p.m., there was no sign of the third man and police said the mission had turned from a rescue to a recovery effort. Police declined to release the names of any of the people involved.
“It appears that he did not make it to shore,” said Police Chief John C. Gavallas, who was at the scene.
The canoeists were far out on the lake when the boat capsized, police said, making it unlikely that the missing person would have made it to shore. Gavallas said police are investigating why the boat capsized.
The driveway leading to Crestbrook Park and Golf Club, which is near Black Rock State Park, was closed late Friday while police and fire officials from several jurisdictions investigated.
Watertown police and fire departments were assisted by the Thomaston Regional Dive Team, Morris volunteer firefighters and Bantam Fire Rescue, among others.
The state Department of Environmental Protection police were on their way to the scene at 11 p.m.
_____________________________________________________________________
Watertown man drowns in pond
Body found after canoe capsizes; 2 survive mishap
BY LAURESHA XHIHANI AND ANDREW LARSON
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
WATERTOWN — The body of a 33-year-old man, who police believe drowned, was recovered from Merriman Pond on Saturday morning.
Police identified the body as Jay Frantzis, who also goes by the name Jay Conway, of Watertown. The man disappeared after the canoe he was in capsized on Merriman Pond, which is at Crestbrook Park and Golf Club off Northfield Road.
Frantzis was in the canoe with another man and his son when it overturned shortly after 9 p.m. on Friday.
The survivors, a father and his young son, swam to shore and called family members, who called 911. At that time, the survivors and emergency personnel believed the missing person, who was later identified as Frantzis, was still alive.
Police and fire officials began a water rescue effort that included several local fire departments, and the Thomaston Regional Dive Team.
The survivors, who were not identified Saturday, were wearing life jackets, said Watertown Police Chief John C. Gavallas.
Frantzis wasn’t wearing a life jacket. His body was found far out on the lake, near where the three canoeists were fishing. Gavallas said he didn’t know what the three canoeists were doing before the accident occurred. Divers, with the help of police and fire personnel, searched for several hours on Friday night and into Saturday before suspending the search and resuming it at 8 a.m. on Saturday.
The body was recovered at about 10 a.m., said Cynthia Chanaca, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP’s Environmental Conservation Police have taken over the investigation, Gavallas said.
Chanaca said police are conducting a full investigation into what led to the boat capsizing, but couldn’t offer specifics late Saturday.
Gavallas said that divers found what they thought was a body after midnight Friday, but were unable to bring it to the surface of the water. They couldn’t find the body again until daybreak.
The driveway leading to Crestbrook Park and Golf Club, which is near Black Rock State Park, was closed while police cars and fire apparatuses investigated.
Operations at the golf club, which is home to Cavallo’s Inn Restaurant, resumed on Saturday after the search ended.
The boy and his father were not injured, Gavallas said, but he said he didn’t have any information about them because the DEP is heading the investigation.
The DEP declined to release the address of Frantzis late Saturday.
____________________________________________________________________
Watertown man drowns in pond after canoe capsizes
Published: Saturday, June 05, 2010
By RONALD DeROSA
WATERTOWN — The body of a 33-year-old Watertown man, who went missing after a canoe capsized Friday evening, was found and identified Saturday.
Jay Frantzis’ body was recovered from Merriam Pond at the Crest Brook Country Club in Watertown, Department of Environmental Protection Conservation Police announced Saturday. Frantzis, who was previously not identified, went missing after the canoe he was in with two other people had capsized. Police were called to the scene around 9 p.m. Friday evening.
The other two made it to shore safely, but Frantzis was missing.
A search took place Friday evening and resumed Saturday morning, when the body was found.
The country club is located at 834 Northfield Road in Watertown.
http://www.registercitizen.com/articles/2010/06/05/news/doc4c0ad49753f9b858717915.txt
____________________________________________________________________
2 fishermen die in CT boating accidents
Updated: Sunday, 06 Jun 2010, 9:43 PM EDT
Published : Sunday, 06 Jun 2010, 9:43 PM EDT
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Two fishermen died in separate boating incidents over the weekend.
Emergency officials in Avon were called to an area along the Farmington River Saturday after a report that a body had been discovered. Avon police identified the man as 60-year-old James Baldyga of New Britain. Police say he was an avid fisherman.
An autopsy is pending.
In Watertown, state Department of Environmental Protection officials responded to a report of a boating accident at Merriam Pond at Crest Brook Country Club Friday night.
Police found that a canoe with three fishermen aboard had capsized. Two made it safely to shore.
The body of the third man, 33-year-old Jay Frantzis of Watertown, was discovered Saturday.
------
Information from: The Hartford Courant
www.wtnh.com
http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/2-fishermen-die-in-ct-boating-accidents
|
