PINE CITY, Minn. — A Minnesota Conservation Officer died while responding to reports of a possible body in Cross Lake Friday night.
The officer has been identified as Eugene Wynn by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Dispatch received a call at around 7:44 p.m. reporting a possible body in the water, according to the Pine County Sheriff's Office. The officer and deputies responded but were not able to determine what the object was from the shore.
The officer got his boat and he and a deputy launched into the lake. Within a minute of leaving both the officer and deputy were thrown from the boat into the water, according to the Pine County Sheriff's Office.
The Pine County Sheriff's Office determined through their investigation that Wynn accelerated the boat away from the shore and then suddenly made an abrupt left turn. The boat corrected, which launched Wynn and the accompanying deputy into the water.
The Coast Guard conducted an inspection on the boat and did not identify any abnormalities that would have contributed to the accident.
There were two life jackets in the boat at the time of the accident but the officers were not wearing them, according to the Pine County Sheriff's Office. Minnesota law does not require life jacket use for adults.
Officer Wynn and the deputy began to swim to shore while other deputies attempted to rescue them with a row boat.
That row boat came from Barb Videen's house. It's the closest house to where Snake River meets Cross Lake. Videen said she never expected her house to become a law enforcement hub.
"Last night, oh my gosh it was like a command center," Videen said.
Her property also sits right next to the public access boat launch where officers were working out of. However, she said they moved the operations to her backyard because it had direct view of where the two officers went into the water.
"An office came and got into our boat and went out," Videen said. "And then you could see there originally were two heads and then there was only one head up."
They were able to rescue the deputy but the officer Wynn had gone under water.
An intensive search was conducted and the officer's body was later recovered at 1:35 a.m.
“Words can’t describe the sense of loss we feel at this time,” said DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen. “Officer Wynn’s service to the state of Minnesota is a debt we can never repay.”
Officer Wynn leaves behind a wife and two children.