At 10:53 PM Goliad County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call of a possible drowning at Coleto Creek Lake.  I was notified there shortly after and responded to the lake.  I notified Wardens of the possible drowning and they both responded to the lake.  At approximately 11:15 PM officers arrived at the lake.  Officers received information from the victim’s family about the incident.  After a short search of the area at approximately 11:45 PM Warden went to the campground area of the park to find the operator of the vessel involved in the incident.  The operator was identified.

Warden interviewed Operator and was told that Victim had jumped off the boat.  Operator stated that at approximately 10:30 PM, he operated the vessel away from the shore, placed the vessel on plane, and headed toward the dam, with Victim and one other as passengers. Operator stated that as they approached an area known as the island, Victim jumped from the back of the moving vessel.  Operator stated he saw Victim enter the water and immediately came to an idle to return and pick up Victim. Operator stated he could not locate Victim in the water and searched for approximately 20 minutes before returning to the campground to call for help. Warden asked Operator if he had consumed alcohol. Operator stated he drank a few beers earlier that evening. Operator did not show signs of impairment at the time of the interview.  
	
	While Warden was interviewing Operator, I made contact with other occupant who stated that shortly after they had left the shore, and the vessel was on plane, Victim stated that he was going to jump out of the boat. Other occupant told me that Victim had jumped from a moving vessel before, and had injured himself. Because of this past incident, Other occupant did not think that Victim would actually jump from the boat. Other occupant stated that as they were near the island, he saw Victim jump from the rear of the vessel and enter the water. Other occupant stated that he briefly saw Victim splashing in the water, but when they turned to pick him up, they were unable to locate him. Other occupant said that they searched the area for about 20 minutes before they returned to shore to get help.

	Wardens and I began searching the area using spotlights and side scan sonar to try and recover Victim. Supervisors were notified of the search efforts being made.  We continued search efforts throughout the night and following morning.  We contacted DPS dive team to request assistance in the search efforts.On 05/15/11, at approximately 10:15 AM, I located a target in 17 ft. of water on side scan sonar and alerted DPS dive team. At approximately 11:10 AM, DPS divers located the victim and made the recovery. The victim was transported by boat to shore where he was pronounced deceased. The victim was released to Colonial Funeral Home at the request of the victim’s family.



Victoria                      