Sgt. Chad Hill, standing, and officer Don McCune of the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department pose with the new boat recently purchased by the department that was instrumental in rescuing a man from the Leesburg Gravel Pit on Sunday evening. (Photo provided)A 40-year-old man allegedly attempted suicide Sunday night in the Leesburg gravel pit but was rescued by Kosciusko County Sheriff’s deputies.
According to the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department, the man was found lying unconscious on a concealed water bank. The Leesburg gravel pit contains a large body of water that is surrounded by secluded trees and foliage.
Officers were notified at about 8:40 p.m. that a despondent man was at the gravel pit. The man was located at about 10 p.m. by deputies and sheriff dive team members. The subject was transported to Kosciusko Community Hospital in serious condition by Multi-Township EMS after an apparent overdose.
Officers were able to locate the subject in the remote area by using a portable thermal imager onboard a newly purchased dive boat. Officials at KCH speculated the man might have died if not located last night due to the large amount of ingested medications.
The KCSD is crediting the new dive boat and sonar equipment with the rescue.According to a press release, the boat and a bottom imaging sonar unit was recently purchased with donations from local citizens. The project was initiated by a donation from the family of Raymond Leroy Barker Jr., who had drowned Aug. 7, 2011, while fishing on Wyland Lake in the Tri-County Game Preserve in Kosciusko County.