Jul. 28—A 21-year-old man drowned Sunday while paddleboarding on DeLong Lake in West Anchorage, authorities say.
Anchorage police got a report just after 6 p.m. of the missing man, department spokesman Chris Barraza said Monday. The man was described as not being able to swim and not wearing a life jacket, he said.
Officers responded to the lake off Jewel Lake Road, along with members of the Anchorage Fire Department. The search continued until it got dark and resumed at 8 a.m. Monday, Barraza said. The man’s body was found and recovered about 10 minutes later, he said.
Police did not immediately identify the man. Barraza said he was from another country.
Authorities said they found a paddleboard but no sign of the man.
Fire department still water search and rescue swimmers searched the lake for nearly 90 minutes Sunday, according to spokesperson Megan Peters. The department also used boats and a paddleboard to search, Peters said. Police used a drone to scan the water.
The lake in the area where the man went missing is a little more than 20 feet deep, she said.
Members of the Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team, using sonar, recovered the man’s body on Monday morning, Peters said.
The lake was crowded with people enjoying the warm, sunny afternoon, according to accounts from people in the area on Sunday.
A friend identified the man as a Romanian resident working in Alaska for a second summer through a work and travel program.
“He loved it the first time, he returned to the same hotel, to the same place, because it had brought him joy and peace,” Andreea Oprea said in a message.