An Oakland man drowned on Wednesday afternoon when he swam after his boat as it drifted away on a Belgrade pond.
Robert Gary, 66, launched his 12-foot motorized aluminum boat from the Spaulding Point boat launch on Ellis Pond, also known as Salmon Pond, about 2:30 p.m. when it began to drift away from shore, according to Mark Latti, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Gary swam after the boat to catch it but went under the water and never resurfaced, Latti said Wednesday night.
His body was found in about four feet of water about 30 to 40 yards from the shore.
Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.
The Maine medical examiner’s office will determine Gary’s cause of death.
