O'CONNORS, Mark
Source: Covington Friend Thursday, August 4, 1977
A weekend outing turned to tragedy Saturday evening when a 20-year-old Chicago man drowned in a lake west of Kingman, Ind.
Mark O’Connors drowned about 6:40 p.m. at the Lake Hideaway Recreation Area. He and a friend were trying to swim to an island in the lake when he went under water, Indiana State Police said.
State Police said O’Connors, Steven Nuttal and Mark Riccardo of East Chicago, Ind., were camping at the lake.
Nuttal and O’Connors swam to a buoy in the lake and rested there. An unknown person yelled at the men, ordered them to leave the buoy and they tried to swim to the island. State Police said they were investigating to determine who ordered the men to leave the buoy.
Nuttal said he was near the island when he heard O’Connors shout. He thought his friend was only pretending to have trouble so he continued on to the island. But when he stood up on land, he saw that O’Connors had gone under the water.
Riccardo said he brought a raft to the area where O’Connors was last seen and he and Nuttal dove, trying to find him. After several minutes, the state police were called.
A state police diver recovered O’Connors’ body about 8:40 p.m. His body was taken to the DeVerter Funeral Home in Covington where arrangements are incomplete.