Three Youngstown men drown in Lake Erie

Doyle Broomfield, 83, Nathaniel Jackson, 74, and Vincent Dale Mack, 52, all of Youngstown were recovered by crews from U.S. Coast Guard Stations Erie and Ashtabula at approximately 8:50 p.m. Thursday after a four-hour, 97-square-mile search of Lake Erie involving rescue units from the United States and Canada, according to the Associated Press.

All three men were unconscious and not breathing upon transfer to Emergency Medical Services on shore in Conneaut. The Ashtabula County Coroner’s Office pronounced the men dead.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources conducted next-of-kin notification, according to a Coast Guard Web site.

A Station Ashtabula 33-foot boat crew and a 47-foot motor lifeboat crew from Station Erie conducted a square pattern (“Expanding Square”) search around the boat. A square pattern involves moving away from the probable location of the distressed person equally in all directions.

An Air Station Detroit HH-65 rescue helicopter crew assisted the stations with aerial searches and vectoring coordinates.

For more on this story, see Saturday’s Vindicator or vindy.com