The Department of Natural Resources is still trying to piece together the details after a Holstein man drowned this weekend after falling off a boat on East Lake Okoboji. DNR spokesman says they’re interviewing people involved in the death of 21-year-old Cory Schubert late Saturday.
Baskins says they do know that there were six people in the boat and they had just left a dock near the Ritz bar at Arnolds Park and were moving at a slow speed when Schubert fell in and drowned. He says they’re trying to find out what made Schubert fall overboard. The operator of the boat, 22-year-old Brandon Osborne of North Mankato, Minnesota was charged with operating the boat while intoxicated.
Baskins says all indications show that the driver’s actions where not the reason Schubert fell into the water, even though the driver was charged. Schubert was not wearing a life jacket, and Baskins says that was a factor. He says they always emphasize wearing a life jacket while on a boat as things can be very unpredictable on the water.
Baskins says that Schubert may still be alive had he been wearing a life vest when he fell overboard. This is the sixth boating-related drowning in Iowa this year. Baskins says many of those drownings happened earlier this year when there was high water, including a double drowning involving a canoe. Baskins says they still need to complete interviews and review all the information to determine what happened in this latest drowning.