Indiana Conservation Officer press release
Indiana Conservation Officers are investigating the death of a man that occurred at Patoka Lake Sunday evening, September 6.
The body of Travis Ray St. Martin, 33, of Racine, Wisconsin, was recovered by conservation officer public safety divers Sunday night at approximately 7:34 p.m., after he went missing in the water.
Sunday, at approximately 2:51 p.m., a conservation officer was on boat patrol on the lake when witnesses alerted him to a possible drowning, and he immediately responded. Multiple 911 calls came in shortly after, reporting that a man had disappeared in the water.
Investigation revealed that two females were aboard a towable tube affixed to a stationary rental boat by a rope when they fell off the tube and struggled to stay afloat.
Multiple people from the rental boat jumped into assist, and rescued one of the females. One of the people who jumped from the rental boat, St. Martin, disappeared under the water.
The other female from the tube, K’neisha Adams, 25, of Burke, Virginia, was rescued by a group of people from a separate boat. Adams was airlifted to University of Louisville Hospital and later released.
The Crawford County coroner’s office ruled the preliminary cause of death as accidental drowning. No alcohol or drugs were suspected to be contributing factors.
Although adequate life jackets were present on the rental boat, none were in use. Indiana Conservation Officers strongly encourage wearing a life jacket when recreating on or around bodies of water.