MECCA - The body of a 21-year-old Amish man was brought out of Mosquito Creek Reservoir about 8:45 p.m. Saturday at the boat-launching site on the causeway on state Route 88, just west of state Route 46.
The Trumbull County 911 center received a call from a boater at about 5:45 p.m. that a male had jumped out of his boat to cool off in the water and did not resurface.
The body of Eli Miller Jr. of Middlefield was found about 1,000 yards from the launch site and 500 yards from the shore, according to Mecca fire Lt. David Dunbar.
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"The information we received was two males were boating when one decided to take his shirt off and jump into the water," Dunbar said. "He never came up."
Dunbar estimates the water was no more than 8 feet deep.
"We are not sure what happened," Dunbar said. "The victim may have been shocked because the water was cooler than the outside temperature."
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Tribune Chronicle photos / Raymond L. Smith
Matt McBride of the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team, returns from the search for Eli Miller Jr., who drowned Saturday afternoon during a boating trip at Mosquito Creek Reservoir.
Reported outside temperature in Warren was 98 degrees. Water temperatures were in the mid-70s.
Miller did not have a life jacket, according to Dunbar.
Dunbar said a helicopter flew over the area near where Miller went into the water but could not see the bottom.
"The rescue effort turned into a recovery about 45 minutes to an hour after we arrived," Dunbar said.
Randy and Beverly Lytle were in their home near Mosquito Creek when they heard the helicopter coming in toward the lake.
"We came down to see what was happening," Randy Lytle said. "I used to work on the Howland Fire Department and he (son Jason) expressed interest in firefighting, so we brought him out here.
"There has not been a drowning out here for four to five years," Dunbar said. "One is too many."
"Something like this reminds you about the importance of life jackets," he said.