An afternoon at Lake Monroe took a devastating turn as responders recovered the body of a New York man on Saturday. The incident unfolded at Paynetown State Recreation Area shortly before 4 p.m., when emergency personnel were alerted to a distress call. A man, identified as Rajesh Kumar, 40, of Ozone Park, New York, had gone under the water while swimming and failed to resurface. Indiana Conservation Officers and the Monroe County Dive Team quickly launched a search, locating Kumar a short time later. Despite attempts at resuscitation, Kumar was pronounced deceased at the scene. Eyewitnesses recounted that Kumar had jumped off a boat to swim but never emerged after submerging into the water. Tragically, no life jackets were in use during the incident, according to conservation officers.
