Body of boater found in Lake Washington identified
By CARRIE WOOD
Officials have identified the man whose body was pulled from Lake Washington near Juanita Beach Park June 5 as 56-year-old August Reyes, of Kirkland. Police found the missing boater about 20 feet offshore. King County Medical examiners are still investigating the cause of his death. On Thursday, Reyes and his friend, 49, left Ivar's Restaurant and headed east on a 16-foot runabout on Lake Union. The boat eventually ran out of gas and drifted north of the 520 bridge. Reyes got into the water, but the wind pushed the boat away. He could not swim fast enough to get back to the boat. His friend, who was driving, got into the water with a seat cushion to try and help Reyes, but the boat drifted away from him as well. The driver lost sight of Reyes and swam approximately 90 minutes until he reached Kirkland shore at about 12:35 a.m. and called police. The Kirkland Police notified the King County Sheriff's Office and a search was started for the missing man. The boat was found an hour later just north of Juanita Park. The Sheriff's office believes that alcohol may have been a contributing factor in the incident. So keep your comments: We ask that all participants own their words by logging in with their Facebook account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and “drive-by” commenters. We reserve the right to remove comments from anyone using screen names, pseudonyms or false identities. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.
Bellevue Reporter Contributor
June 10, 2009 · 4:27 PM
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