Monday morning reports from the Logan County Sheriff’s Office released the name of the man who drowned Saturday afternoon at Adventure Trails Campground in Bellefontaine.
The victim has been identified as 28-year-old Cody Johnson of Marysville.
Update: The man’s body was pulled from the water around 7:25 PM Saturday, thanks to sonar.
More details are expected to be released on Monday.
Authorities are continuing search efforts after a 28-year-old man reportedly drowned Saturday afternoon at the Adventure Trails Campground, located at 3299 State Route 540 in Bellefontaine.
According to the Logan County Sheriff’s Office, at approximately 1:15 p.m., the Logan County Dispatch Center received a frantic 911 call reporting that a 28-year-old male who had been out on a canoe had gone into the water and had not resurfaced.
Deputies, along with Bellefontaine Fire/EMS and Tri Valley EMS, were dispatched to the scene.
Upon arrival, a responding deputy reported that the male was still unaccounted for and underwater.
Several bystanders had already entered the water in an attempt to rescue him.
Two deputies removed their duty gear and entered the pond, swimming approximately 30–40 feet out to the location where an overturned canoe was floating.
The deputies were able to assist an adult female and male back to shore — both had jumped in to try to save the victim.
Despite multiple dive attempts, the man could not be located beneath the surface.
The Indian Joint Fire District Dive Team later arrived and began a grid search of the pond.
As of Saturday evening, the 28-year-old man had not yet been found, despite several hours of dive operations.
Additional resources from the Columbus Division of Fire — including a boat, sonar, and additional divers — were requested and were en route to assist.
According to a statement from the victim’s girlfriend, both she and the victim were from Marysville and had been camping for the weekend at Adventure Trails.
She told authorities that her boyfriend had taken her 5-year-old daughter out on the pond in a standard canoe for a pleasure ride.
The canoe began taking on water, prompting the child to scream for help.
The girlfriend then paddled out in a kayak to reach them and was able to retrieve her daughter from the water.
However, her boyfriend went under and did not resurface.
She believed he may have been trapped beneath the overturned canoe.
After returning her daughter safely to shore, she swam back out to help — by this time, she was exhausted and without a life jacket when deputies arrived and swam out to assist her.
The victim was not wearing a life jacket at the time he entered the water.
The man’s father, who was also present at the campground, told authorities that his son was a “larger individual” and not a strong swimmer, but he did not witness his son go under.
Multiple agencies continue to assist in the search.
