LAKE WORTH, Fla. (AP) - The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office has identified a man who drowned while trying to retrieve a remote-control boat from a pond.
Authorities say 47-year-old Robert Lester was about 30 feet offshore when he began yelling for help Saturday afternoon in a suburban Lake Worth community called Palm Beach Plantation.
Neighbors tried to save Lester but were unsuccessful.
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue divers recovered the body about an hour later.
The boat had capsized near a fountain in the pond. Lester’s body was found near the fountain.
The Palm Beach Post (https://bit.ly/1gF5HIX ) reports authorities are investigating whether the fountain could have contributed to the drowning. The community’s maintenance man told firefighters the fountain creates a “significant suction effect” under water.
The fountain was turned off before divers went in.
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