Per significant incident report--witnesses observed a boat with one individual aboard traving south on the lake.  A few moments later, they observed the boat traveling north and turning in circles with no on aboard.  They notified EMS.  Search and rescue operations were immediately started and a ground search was also initiated.  The victim's body was recovered on 4/16/09 near lake lot 300.  Vessel assessment indicated that victim tied the steering wheel off with a line, placed the motor in forward gear (full throttle), and left the helm to remove the stern drain plug in an attempt to remove water from the hull.  He would have been standing or leaning over when moving to the stern to remove the drain plug and would not have had the lanyard cutoff switch attached to his person.  This a careless practice, but it is not believed to have caused his fall overboard.  Preliminary coroner's report indicates that the victim had 80 % blockage in 3 major arteries that may have caused a severe angina attack causing him to fall overboard.
Litchfield                    