Father goes missing in lake after he rescued his struggling child from the water

BRAXTON COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ/Gray News) - A search is being conducted at a lake in West Virginia after a 25-year-old father went missing after saving his child from drowning.

A call was placed Monday just before noon regarding a possible drowning at Sutton Lake in the Bee Run area, dispatchers said.

Crews searched for the Charleston man Tuesday.

“This is a terrible tragedy,” said Capt. Douglas Benson with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Police. “There is no other way to look at it. It is a terrible tragedy.”

The department said the man is presumed dead.

Witnesses told officials the man was on a boat when he went into the water to help one of his children.

Officials said the child went down a slide attached to the boat before being seen struggling in the water after their life jacket shifted while going down the slide.

The man went into the water to get the child to safety.

Officials said he was not wearing a life jacket.

After he got the child back on the boat, the man slipped under the water and did not resurface.

Crews began searching Monday and resumed the search Tuesday morning.

Search crews are having a hard time with visibility, officials say.

Further information has not been released.

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