Victim identified in July 5 Lake Travis drowning

AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) -- The victim of a drowning that occurred in the Devil's Hollow Cove area of Lake Travis Saturday has been identified as 41-year-old Thomas David Dornak from Pearland, Texas.

The Travis County Medical Examiner has determined that Dornak's cause of death to be the result of an accidental drowning.     

Dornak's body was found around 8 a.m. Sunday in water that was 54 feet deep.

Travis County sheriff deputies got the call on a missing swimmer at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, but because of the location and the risk factors in a nighttime recovery, they secured the area and sent divers out early Sunday morning.

"Our dive team responded at first light this morning for a briefing and they located the victim approximately 17 minutes after they entered the water," said Mark Sawa with the Travis County Sheriff's Office.

Sawa said Dornak was on a boat with friends when their anchor got tangled.

"He dove in for the first attempt, surfaced and then told them that it was in fact, tangled. He went back for a second attempt to untangle it, and he never surfaced," said Sawa.

People out on the lake Sunday were saddened by the news, but they weren't surprised.

"It breaks your heart when somebody loses their life, but at least it wasn't more than one. With that amount of people, you'd expect more than that," said Jason Amador-Locher, a Lake Travis visitor.

Lake Travis is traditionally one location where there are a high number of accidental drownings, especially during the holidays, according to sheriff's officials.

Those on the local lake patrol said even one this weekend was too many.

 

Drownings on Texas lakes over holiday weekend

DALLAS (AP) -- It was a deadly Fourth of July weekend on Texas lakes as authorities reported at least eight drownings. Among them was a 3-year-old girl found floating in Lewisville Lake in North Texas on Friday.

Natalie Escobar of Carrollton was one of four people to drown at Lewisville Lake over the holiday weekend. The bodies of three men were recovered Sunday.

Juanita Lagunas identified two of the men as her 31-year-old boyfriend, Ismael Rangel of Houston, and his 18-year-old nephew, Saul Rangel of Lewisville. Also, the body of 26-year-old Eugenio Reyes of Dallas was pulled from the lake Sunday.

Officials said 27-year-old Jose Andrade of Irving reportedly jumped into Grapevine Lake Sunday night from a party boat and failed to resurface. Grapevine Fire Department divers found his body.

At Lake Ray Roberts, searchers found the body of a 31-year-old man who had gone scuba diving with his twin brother. The Tarrant County medical examiner's office identified the man as Kenneth Harper of Pilot Point.

On Friday, Shannon Allcock, 13, drowned at Joe Pool Lake in Grand Prairie. And in the Austin area, Dornak drowned Saturday night after diving into the water to try to untwist a boat anchor.

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