NUSAR Part Of Recovery Effort In New Milford
Newtown Underwater Search And Rescue (NUSAR) was part of a rescue effort that turned into a recovery mission in New Milford on Easter Sunday.
The dive team was dispatched around 7:15 pm on April 4 after a male hiker was reported missing in Lover’s Leap State Park.
CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), New Milford Police, New Milford Ambulance, and Water Witch Hose Fire Company of New Milford were also part of the search effort.
On April 7, DEEP identified the hiker as Joao Lucas, 39, of Danbury. According to the Associated Press, Lucas’s body was found around 9:30 pm in Lake Lillinonah, within the park.
The state medical examiner’s office has ruled the death an accidental drowning.
Per DEEP spokesman Will Healy, members of the group Lucas had been hiking with said they last saw him heading down from an overlook in the park late Sunday afternoon.
Healey said on Wednesday that the incident remains under investigation.