TAGHKANIC — State Police have identified a 24-year-old Queens man as the person who drowned at Lake Taghkanic State Park on Saturday.
The body of Juan P. Chauca Remachi, Flushing, was pulled from Lake Taghkanic by the State Police Underwater Recovery Team about four hours after the incident, said Aaron Hicks, State Police public information officer Monday. Remachi was not wearing a life jacket when he was found, police added.
Witnesses at the park said a man jumped from a boat and did not surface. There were no signs of criminal activity or foul play detected, Hicks said.
Officials responded to the state park at about 12:10 p.m. after receiving reports of a capsized kayak with two people involved, but only one person was accounted for after the accident.
Several boats arrived at the lake and entered the water to begin searching for the missing man. Divers searched the lake in the area where the man was last seen while police investigators interviewed potential witnesses to the accident on shore.
More than four hours after the accident, the man’s body was located, Hicks said. Columbia County Coroner Michael Blasl pronounced Remachi dead at the scene.
The Taghkanic Fire Company and Northern Dutchess Paramedics first responded to the scene.
Fire officials requested mutual-aid assistance from the Hudson Fire Department Dive Team and the Livingston Fire Company.
Yellow police tape cordoned off the areas where emergency personnel command posts were set up. The rest of the West Beach and picnic areas remained open through the incident.
The main command post was established at the east end of the lake, near cabin No. 171. A second post was located at the West Beach, where the arriving boats entered the lake.
State police are handling the investigation and were assisted at the scene by personnel from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Park Police, New York Forest Rangers, Lake Taghkanic staff and lifeguards.
Also assisting at the scene were: Northern Dutchess Paramedics; Columbia County Fire Coordinator’s Office; Columbia County EMS Coordinator’s Office; and Columbia County Office of Emergency Management.
The investigation into the drowning is ongoing, Hicks said.