COOLBAUGH TOWNSHIP -- Dive teams were called out Monday after a kayak was found tipped over on a lake in Monroe County. The county coroner confirms that a body was found just before noon.
Emergency crews were called to Pocono Summit Lake in Coolbaugh Township around 8 a.m. Monday.
The coroner said Stanley Kurkowski, 75, of Bound Brook, NJ was found dead.
Officials tell us Stanley Kurkowski of New Jersey went out on the lake around 7:45 Monday morning and less than an hour later his family saw his blue kayak overturned and called 911.
Search and rescue crews lined the shores of Pocono Summit Lake looking for the man who was in this blue kayak.
“From the information we have, he went out on the water. Somebody noticed the kayak was overturned and called us in,” said Pocono Summit Fire Chief George Tallmadge.
By boat, volunteer firemen and other emergency responders began scouring the lake. By late morning, 75-year-old Stanley Kurkowski’s body was found at the bottom. The New Jersey man owned a home in Pocono Summit Lakes and spent time here in the summers.
Ann McGuire saw that blue capsized kayak, but thought the overnight storms tossed it out into the water.
"Very sad. Very, very sad that there was someone out there and never called for help. We would have heard him, we were all here,” said McGuire.
Steve Santoro has lakefront property and didn’t hear any cries for help either.
"What did get my attention were the sirens from the emergency vehicles showing up and I went out and investigated,” said Santoro.
Neighbors are especially shaken up after this incident because they say this lake is usually safe and extremely shallow in most parts.
"It's a tragedy what happened. It just breaks our hearts. I've never seen anything like it in all my years of residency as a summer resident here,” said Carol of Pocono Summit.
The water is high because of the recent rain, but only is eight to 10 feet deep at most. Residents say Kurkowski is the first person to die in the lake. The last rescue was about a decade ago.
"Just God be with his family. It's a terrible, sad thing,” said McGuire.
The last time rescue crews were called to Pocono Summit Lake it was for an ice rescue. The coroner says an autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday to determine how Kurkowski died.
Throughout the morning Northeast Search and Rescue crews, search dogs, dive teams, Tobyhanna Volunteer Fire Department, and Pocono Mountain Regional Police were on scene, helping with the effort.
