COWLEY COUNTY —Authorities have identified the man who drowned Tuesday at Winfield Lake as 75-year-old John Sanford of Atlanta, Kansas, according to Fire Chief Vincent Warren.
Just before 12:30p.m.. on Tuesday, members from the Winfield Police Department and the Winfield Fire/EMS Department were dispatched to Winfield City Lake for the report of an unoccupied boat in the water near the shoreline on the north side of the lake, according to Warren.
It was believed the boat was being operated prior to it becoming lodged on the bank of the lake.
Based on this information, crews searched on land near the boat and members of Winfield Fire/EMS and the Arkansas City Fire Department each deployed a boat to start search efforts in the water.
Aircraft from the Kansas Highway Patrol and small drones from Cowley County Sheriff’s Office and the Kansas Department of Wildlife Parks also helped with the search. The Sedgwick County Fire District’s dive team and boats equipped with Sonar technology were used in the water where the victim’s boat was last seen.
Just before 5p.m. Sandford's body was located underwater by divers from the Sedgwick County Fire District and the Arkansas City Fire Department.