Rescue teams pulled out a woman who’s believed to have drowned Sunday afternoon in Hobart’s Robinson Lake — the fourth drowning there in four years.
Hobart Assistant Fire Chief John Reitz said Sunday evening that the fire department was called to Robinson Lake shortly before 1 p.m. June 18, upon which a bystander said they’d unsuccessfully attempted to rescue the victim. Members of Hobart’s Rescue Team initially got in the water but couldn’t find her, Reitz said.
With help from the Crown Point, Merrillville, Cedar Lake and Lake County Police Department divers, Hobart recovered the woman at 2:49 p.m., almost two hours after they started, Reitz said. The Lake County Coroner’s office is investigating, he said.
Sunday’s death succeeds the deaths of Zachariah Bud “ZB” Higgason, of Dyer; and Carol Rose Wolff Williams, of Griffith, who were kayaking the human-made lake in July.
Lake County E-911 received a call that the two were struggling after tipping approximately 200 feet from shore, the Post-Tribune previously reported. A witness swam out to the pair as they struggled but then went under as the witness tried to save them.
The witness and a Hobart Police officer were able to grab Williams — who was found face down — and swim her back to shore. Someone at the scene started CPR on Williams, and she was subsequently taken to St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart, where she died of asphyxiation due to drowning, the Post-Tribune reported.
Higgason’s body was found an hour later.
In July 2019, 4-year-old David Flemister, of Gary, was pulled out of the lake and taken to St. Mary Medical Center, where he later died, the Post-Tribune reported.
Created by the construction of nearby Interstate 65 to the west, the 16-acre Robinson Lake, overseen by the Hobart Parks Department, is located just off the Oak Savannah bike trail at 5250 Liverpool Road. It offers fishing, picnic shelters, restrooms and a play area, but the lake hasn’t had lifeguards for several years.
In 2017, as more people visited the lake to go swimming, city council members discussed bringing back lifeguards. Signs are posted warning that people must be over 18 to go swimming and it’s at their own risk.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
