PEORIA, AZ — The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has confirmed that the body of a swimmer reported missing at Lake Pleasant Sunday has been located.
The incident happened on Sunday around 6:30 p.m. near South Barker Island.
MCSO says a man was reported to have been struggling and yelling for help while swimming back to a boat. At one point, he went underwater and did not resurface.
MCSO confirmed Thursday morning that the man's body was located.
ABC15 spoke with Penny Noles of Buckeye, who says the victim was her neighbor, 74-year-old Art Kolodzinski.
Noles says she had plans with Kolodzinski to take out his boat on Sunday, July 6.
She says when trying to stall the boat to swim, they lost the anchor as the rope wasn't long enough to touch the lake floor.
She tells ABC15 that they ended up swimming anyway. She says Kolodzinski began to struggle in the water when the wind picked up and blew the boat away.
Noles says she raced to get the drifting boat, but by the time she got to the area where he was, Kolodzinski had gone underwater and did not resurface.
ABC15 heard from Kolodzinski's niece, Dani Bonebrake, who lives in Indiana.
She says Kolodzinski was always adventurous and had a hobby in boating.
She says he was a good swimmer, as they had previously gone on boating trips in other parts of the country.
It's unclear where Kolodzinski was located at Lake Pleasant.
Noles says they were not wearing life jackets when swimming.
Bonebrake shared the following message upon hearing her uncle's body was discovered by MCSO after a four-day search:
"Our family is heartbroken and trying to wrap our arms around this nightmare.
He is now reunited with his parents Arthur and Eleanor Kolodzinski. His oldest son, David.
And his sisters Karen Sheehan and Sandra Parker."
