The Sawyer County Sheriff's Department has released the name of an apparent drowning victim on Lac Courte Oreilles Lake. Authorities have been searching for the body of 44 year-old Paul E. Dust since the boat Dust and his two teen aged sons were fishing from was swamped by heavy waves last Saturday, April 18. The boys, ages 15 and 18, were able to swim to shore but lost sight of their father. All three are Lac Courtes Oreilles tribal members, and were spearfishing along the shore of the 2,000 acre lake when the incident occurred at about 10:30 Saturday night.
The search is being conducted by the sheriff's department, the LCO Police Department and the Wisconsin DNR. A DNR warden says water temperatures were only 39 degrees when the boat was swamped, and the lake is up to 50 feet deep some sections.