BARNESVILLE - The body of a McAdoo man was found Sunday afternoon in the waters of Tuscarora State Park, Rush Township, the victim of an apparent drowning, officials said.
Kamil Sposob, 22, was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:21 p.m. by Schuylkill County Deputy Coroner Andrew Szczyglak, Shenandoah.
Szczyglak said an autopsy on Sposob will be performed at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest and that Deputy Coroner Larry Neff is conducting the investigation.
McAdoo police said Sunday afternoon that Sposob was reported missing around 6:45 p.m. Tuesday by his step father.
Rush Township police Chief Duane Frederick said on Wednesday officers from his department located a vehicle in the parking lot of the park and placed a parking ticket on it. However, at that time it was not known Sposob was reported missing.
Frederick said McAdoo police could not enter Sposob as a missing person until 72 hours passes since the initial report. Sposob, he said, was entered as missing on Friday, two days after officers ticketed the vehicle.
Frederick said park rangers saw the vehicle Sunday morning and questioned why it was still parked there with a ticket on it.
Searchers were called after the man's sneakers, pants, shirt and wallet were found on the edge of the water near the boat rental facility.
Tamaqua and Quakake firefighters were called to conduct a walking search of the woods around the dam because it was not immediately known if Sposob was in the water.
Hometown firefighters and fire police were called to the park at 1:10 p.m. and immediately called for the Ryan Township Rescue Squad dive team.
The chief said members of the Ryan Township dive team found the body of Sposob in the water about 15 to 20 feet from where his belongings were found.
The Lehighton Fire Department responded with a boat to assist in the water search.
As rescuers searched for Sposob, a 2009 graduate of Hazleton Area High School, Rush Township Fire Police blocked the entrance to the park, turning away a handful of people who planned to go to Tuscarora to take in Sunday's nice weather by walking or just sitting by the water.
All response units were cleared from the park at about 6 p.m.