Cape man identified in Illinois lake drowning

A 64-year-old Cape Girardeau man drowned Friday morning at Kinkaid Lake in Southern Illinois.

According to a news release issued by Jackson County, Illinois, sheriff’s Sgt. Carson K. Bunton, the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

He was identified as Larry Huffman of Cape Girardeau.

According to the release, the accident first was reported to the sheriff’s office at 10:43 a.m. Friday near the area in the lake known as Johnson Creek “no wake zone.”

Deputies and Illinois Department of Natural Resources officers responded to the call.

Upon arrival, deputies learned two men were fishing from a boat when the trolling motor became disabled, according to the release.

The men tried to pull up the motor to repair it when one of the men, later identified as Huffman, fell from the boat and did not resurface, the release said.

A group from another boat helped the victim’s friend, but Huffman was not found until deputies and officers recovered him from the water with assistance from the Carbondale Fire Department and Carterville Fire Department dive team, Bunton wrote.

The investigation is ongoing by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Jackson County Coroner’s Office.

Pertinent address:

Kinkaid Lake, Jackson County, Illinois