The body of a 33-year-old man was pulled from the water at Millers Pond State Park in Durham on Saturday evening.
The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said the man was last seen swimming in the afternoon.
NBC Connecticut spoke with the nephew of the victim, who identified him as Ramiro Bonilla, of Queens, New York. Bonilla was at the park with his wife and daughter.
Family members said Bonilla was out for a swim when something went wrong.
On his way back from his second lap he just raised his hands, trying to ask for help, he just went down and that’s the last time we saw him,” Alex Tapia, Bonilla's nephew, said.
Multiple agencies responded to the emergency call at 5:20 p.m., including State Police, Middletown and Haddam Fire departments and the State Environmental Conservation (EnCon) Police.
The Middletown South District Department Dive Team found the victim's body just before 7 p.m.
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“He was a really hard working person, caring and loved to make people laugh," Tapia said of his uncle.
The park is a popular spot for swimming in the summer. However, signs posted at the entrance specifically caution people that it is not a "designated swim area" with no lifeguards on duty.
EnCon Police is investigating the incident but no further information was available.
