Police report that three adults from Norwalk, who were traveling on the Lake Lillinonah section of the Housatonic River in a small boat at about 8:30 pm on Monday, June 8, fell into the cold water when their boat capsized.

All three people — two men and a woman — made it to shore after the incident, but it was several hours before they were found by first responders and then transported to Danbury Hospital for medical attention, police said.

The unidentified people, all in their 20s, had put their boat into the water at about 5:30 pm at the state boat launch at 160 Hanover Road, near Upper Paugussett State Forest, police said.

They had transported their small boat to the launch atop an SUV. The 10-foot-long boat was powered by a trolling motor.

At about 1:35 am on Tuesday, June 9, police Officer Steven Borges, who was on routine patrol near the boat launch, found a man and woman who had been involved in the boating accident walking out of the state forest near the intersection of Hanover Road and Silver City Road. The had apparently wandered through the woods for about five hours in seeking help, police said.

They told Officer Borges that they had left the other man, who was unconscious, on the lake’s shore when they went to seek help.

Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps then transported the two people to Danbury Hospital for medical attention.

According to Newtown Hook & Ladder Volunteer Fire Company First Assistant Chief Jason Rivera, who spoke with The Newtown Bee late Tuesday morning, about 40 people participated in the search to find the missing man. Mr Rivera was the incident commander.

Also called in for the search were Newtown Underwater Search And Rescue (NUSAR), Brookfield police affiliated with Lake Lillinonah Authority Marine Patrol, volunteer firefighters from Brookfield and Bridgewater, and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). Searchers used multiple boats in looking for the missing man along the shoreline.

Hook & Ladder members used a thermal imaging camera in their search, Mr Rivera said.

NUSAR Chief Mike McCarthy said NUSAR members used an inflatable boat in traveling downriver searching for the man. They used a spotlight directed at the lake’s Newtown shoreline in seeking him.

More than one mile downriver from the boat launch, NUSAR members heard a man yelling from the shoreline, Chief McCarthy said. The missing man was found by NUSAR around 2:41 am.

They then made contact with the man, whom they brought back to the boat launch. The man appeared to be in generally good shape, but said that he was cold and had chest pain, Chief McCarthy told The Newtown Bee late Tuesday morning.

Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps members transported the man to Danbury Hospital for medical treatment.

Police said that boat that capsized has not been found.