Fort Wayne boy is ID'd in Whitley County lake drowning

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A 15-year-old Fort Wayne boy who drowned Saturday in a Whitley County lake has been identified.

Whitley County Coroner Scott Smith on Monday identified the boy as Richard A. Shadle Jr. The boy drowned Saturday evening while swimming in Troy Cedar Lake northwest of Columbia City, authorities have said.

The coroner's office ruled the death as consistent with accidental drowning Sunday afternoon, but test results still were pending, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said in a statement.

Shadle was swimming with friends at 6:50 p.m. near a beach at the lake's southeast end, according to the DNR. Witnesses said he began to have trouble swimming for an unknown reason and then went underwater and never reappeared.

A conservation officer recovered Shadle's body at 8:22 p.m. in about 10 feet of water and 55 feet from shore, according to the DNR.