Mom drives golf cart into lake with teens, then toddler found dead, Ohio cops say
A 4-year-old and his 45-year-old dad were found dead in an Ohio lake after an incident in which authorities say they suspect foul play.
On the morning of Aug. 23, deputies were called to Atwood Lake for reports of a golf cart that crashed into a lake, according to a news release from the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office.
An Amish family was visiting the lake for the weekend when the woman crashed into the lake with three of her children, a 15-year-old and twin 18-year-olds, deputies said.
The teens got out on their own and first responders helped the woman out of the water, officials said. Deputies said it became evident that the woman purposefully crashed into the water.
Authorities spoke to the woman and her kids after they were out of the lake and became worried for the safety of the woman’s 4-year-old son and husband, who could not be located.
Deputies searched for the toddler and man throughout the day. After speaking with witnesses and piercing together statements from the woman, authorities said they suspected foul play.
Around 6 p.m., divers found the 4-year-old boy dead at the bottom of the lake near a boat dock, deputies said.
Witnesses told authorities they saw the woman at the boat dock around 1:15 a.m. with the 4-year-old and her husband, officials said.
The husband remained missing and deputies said “his safety is definitely in question.”
Then, around 8:30 a.m. Aug. 24, divers located the husband’s body in the lake, about 50 yards from the edge of the dock, an updated news release said, according to WJW.
“Two separate pieces of information were learned that led us to strongly believe that the father would be located off the same boat dock the young son had been found near,” the release said, WJW reported.
The woman was taken to a hospital for treatment, deputies said. Her three children were released to family members.
Authorities have not released the names of the victims as of Aug. 24.
