RedactedNarrative: Prelude:     
  A man was recovered from a reservoir after having gone missing during a storm.     
       
  Details of Investigation/Incident:     
       On June 26, 2022, at or about 4:48 A.M., I, Indiana Conservation Officer was contacted by Sullivan County Sheriff in reference to a missing boat on Turtle Creek Reservoir, Sullivan County. I was advised that Hoosier Energy had sounded their alarm indicating that boaters should return from the lake to shore until weather and water conditions improve.   
    
    Hoosier Energy only sounds the alarm when winds of at least 20 mph are present and have sustained longer than two minutes. It was reported that winds reached 30 to 40 mph that night from the south. Due to the topography of Turtle Creek Reservoir, strong winds cause the surface of this reservoir to become extremely unsafe. Security personnel advised that there had been two boats on the water and only one returned to shore. Sheriff informed me that Deputy was on scene and attempting to locate the missing boater from shore.    
   
     I arrived on scene and met with Deputy1. There was a boat and empty trailer still present in the parking lot. We put my boat on the water and began performing a surface search for the missing person. During the search, a gas can was spotted floating near the intake channel of the power plant. Additional searching of the area revealed a soft sided cooler with a Farbest Foods label on it. Finding no additional debris in the water, we returned to the ramp to await additional resources to continue the search.
       
    I was greeted at the ramp by a friend of Victim's that had been communicating with him the night of the incident. He asked if we had located anything, and I directed him to the gas tank and the cooler. Friend stated that he recognized the gas tank as one he had given to Victim and stated that he and Victim work together. Friend informed me that he had been fishing at Sullivan Lake the same time that the storm had arrived in the area, and he had been communicating with Victim. Victim's last text message to Friend was at 12:50 am.     
  
    Victim's communication indicated that he was aware of the storms coming, but he intended to fish for another hour before finishing. Friend informed me that the boat Victim was fishing in was not a safe boat to be on the water. He stated that Victim had removed all flotation inside the boat and put sheets of fiberglass panels down as a boat decking. He stated that the motors were unreliable and that the wiring was “cobbled together.” Friend stated that Victim could not swim but refused to wear a personal flotation device despite keeping them present on the boat in the past.    
  
     Friend directed me to Victim's preferred fishing spots and stated that he rarely ventured further out into the lake due to the condition of his boat and his inability to swim. Friend informed me that Victim either wore brown muck boots or boating shoes that were purple in color.      
  
    Additional Indiana Conservation Officers arrived, and we began searching areas of Turtle Creek Reservoir with side scan sonar. Lieutenant and I located a bobber in the water near one of the areas Victim reportedly liked to fish. As we retrieved the bobber, we realized that there was a fishing pole still attached to it. We continued to scan the area to locate Victim's boat. We later learned that Victim informed Friend that he had lost a fishing pole earlier in the evening.     
  
    Officers continued searching the area throughout the evening. We all identified images in the same area while running side scan that we believed could potentially be Victim's boat. However, the images were not conclusive. Based on the wind direction coming from the south the night before, the location of these images could be consistent with where the items were recovered near the intake earlier in the day.     
  
    I contacted Victim's daughter who was with Victim's wife, and asked if someone could come and pick up his truck and trailer. She stated that she and her mom could not drive a manual transmission very well. She asked if the vehicle could be locked up and the keys taken to the sheriff's department. The vehicle and trailer that was present and believed to belong to Victim could not be secured. I performed a quick inventory of the vehicle and photographed its contents. An identification card was present in the console that belonged to Victim.      
  
    The next morning, myself and several Indiana Conservation Officers arrived to continue searching for Victim and his boat. At 8:10 A.M., I observed something floating in the water, which I believed to be Victim. I noted a water temperature of 86 degrees Fahrenheit at the time of recovery. Officer operated the boat as I secured the individual. I notified Officer to come to my location and assist me in pulling the individual up into my boat.     
  
    The deceased individual was a white male wearing blue jeans, a dark polo shirt and purple boating shoes. He had reddish brown hair with a full beard and mustache, and he was floating face down in the water. I immediately notified Lieutenant of the recovery as well as dispatch. I contacted Sullivan County Sheriff's Department and requested that they notify the County Coroner as well as one of the Sullivan County Ambulance Teams to transport Victim. Sullivan County Dispatch contacted Knox County Sheriff's Department to send an officer to Victim's house and notify his wife that he was recovered.      
  
  Victim did not appear to have any possessions in his pockets at the time of recovery. I did not observe any visible injuries to Victim. 
  
    The autopsy was performed on Tuesday June 28, 2022.  The preliminary results indicated that the cause of death was consistent with drowning and the manner of death based on all available evidence is ruled as an accident.      
  
    The boat has not yet been recovered from Turtle Creek Reservoir as its exact location is yet to be determined.     
  