The 56-year-old Hartford man whose fishing trip turned deadly on Friday after his body was found in Lake Terramuggus in Marlborough has been identified.
The Department of Environmental Protection says that Verlon Barnes and his friend were fishing in the lake at 11:30 a.m. Barnes dropped his friend off on shore and went back out to fish. An hour later the friend on shore called the police after seeing the boat in the water, empty.
Dive teams spent hours looking for Barnes and began using sonar equipment as the sun went down.
Major Sgt. Paul Gately from the state police described the conditions in the water as difficult to see, saying, “The body of water in the area we are searching is about 15 to 20 feet deep. Once you get to the bottom you stir up the muck. It’s weeds about 3 feet high and the rest is just silt.”
Swimmer Rick Mitten swims in the lake often. He is training for an iron man competition and he says people train there because motorboats aren’t allowed in the water. He was going for an evening swim, when he accidentally swam into the search.
“I got about 6 minutes out and a boat told me to turn around and come back and without my glasses I didn’t know it was somebody dredging, looking for somebody,” said Mitten.
The DEP is investigating the circumstances surrounding the Barnes’ death.
