A 29-year-old man died last weekend after he accidentally drove into a lake near the Southeast Alaska community of Kake, Alaska State Troopers said.
Troopers got report of the drowning around 4:30 a.m. on Aug. 27. An initial investigation found that Manuel Rose-Bell, of Kake, was driving a Subaru Outback and put the car into drive instead of reverse, and drove into Boot Lake, according to troopers.
“There was a passenger in the vehicle that exited and swam to shore but did not see Bell exit the vehicle. When local medics arrived, the vehicle was no longer visible,” troopers said in an online report posted Thursday.
Troopers spokesman Tim DeSpain said in an email that Bell’s Outback had gone down a roughly 8-foot embankment into the waters of the lake.
“Bell’s body was found about two hours after the vehicle had gone into the water and was recovered sometime after that,” said DeSpain.
Troopers believe alcohol was a factor in Bell’s death. His body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office, and his family has been notified.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the first name of the man who died. His name is Manuel Rose-Bell.
Chris Klint is a web producer and breaking news reporter at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cklint@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Chris here.
