NEWARK – Searchers have recovered the body of man who is believed to have fallen into fast-moving water while floating down the Licking River with friends, one of three possible drownings in Ohio over the weekend.
The Newark Advocate reports that the Licking County Sheriff’s office confirmed 22-year-old James Michael Krofft was found dead Tuesday morning. The Newark man went missing Sunday afternoon.
Authorities say Krofft and others were floating down the river east of Newark, near Blackhand Gorge, when Krofft reportedly fell from a raft or inner tube.
Sheriff’s officials say witnesses said the fast-moving water hampered their attempts to reach the man, who reportedly went under but did not resurface.
Emergency responders searched the area for more than two days, using boats, helicopters, sonar and other means.
Meanwhile, authorities have released the identity of an Athens man reported missing in the Hocking River in southeast Ohio.
The Athens County Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday said the missing man has been identified as 27-year-old Devin Gargia.
The Athens Fire Department was dispatched Saturday night on a call that a man wearing black shorts and no shirt or shoes had entered the river around 8:00 p.m. Crews spent days searching a two-mile stretch of the river before calling off the search Monday night.
Emergency Management officials say search crews used sonar, search dogs and rescue divers without finding any sign of Gargia.
The agency says the search may resume if authorities receive any additional information or evidence. Anyone with information is asked to call the Athens Police Department.
A third man drowned in the quarry at the Runaway Bay apartments on the West Side.