A 75-year-old man from Cowley County whom the Winfield EMS/Fire Department was searching for at Winfield City Lake, was found dead late Tuesday afternoon; he's been identified as John Sanford of Atlanta, Kansas.
The department received a call after noon Tuesday for a possible victim in the water.
Bystanders reported there was a person on the boat, and at an unknown time later, the boat was found without anyone on it.
Winfield EMS/Fire Department Chief Vincent Warren says crews did a sweep around the lake, and initially did not find anyone.
“We immediately got into the water, [and] started doing a search in the water,” said Warren.
Assistance in the search and rescue included the Arkansas City Fire Department with a boat and dive team, the Cowley County Sheriff’s Office, the Kansas Highway Patrol with an aircraft, the Sedgwick County Fire Department with a support boat and dive team, and the Winfield Police Department.
There were three boats using sonar.
“Sedgwick County was able to use their sonars, along with the Kansas game and wildlife, (they) pinpointed where the body was at, and they were able to recover him,” Warren said. “Sedgwick County went down and brought him back up.”