A Princeton man is dead after drowning in Lake Barkley in Kuttawa Saturday afternoon.
Gary Jones, 40, was pronounced deceased by Caldwell County Deputy Coroner Dewayne Trafford at 4:40 p.m. Saturday at the Caldwell County Hospital emergency room.
Trafford said the accident occurred in the swimming area in the Old Kuttawa park.
Jones, at the park with friends, had reportedly swum out to the floating marker line at the border of the swimming area and was headed back to shore when the drowning occurred.
“Some people may have seen him struggling,” said Trafford. “He did come up once and then went back down.”
Trafford estimated Jones was under water for between 10 and 15 minutes by the time emergency personnel arrived at the scene.
“My understanding is that a paramedic and a sheriff’s unit went into the water and brought him up,” Trafford said.
Jones’ body was recovered about 6 feet from where he went under, in water between 6 and 8 feet deep, he added.
The body was transported to the state medical examiner’s office in Louisville for an autopsy that evening.
The preliminary report indicated the cause of death as accidental drowning. Toxicology test results have not yet been returned, Trafford said.
Memorial services will be conducted tonight at Morgan’s Funeral Home.
