Family members confirm that a body pulled from Briarstone Lake in Mason City earlier this afternoon is that of a missing man. Underwater search and rescue teams located a body at around one o’clock Tuesday afternoon that was later identified as 75-year-old Eugene Cole.
Cole had been missing since 10:30 Saturday night after he failed to return from fishing outside of his family’s home on Briarstone Lake. Cole’s wife Mary Pat reported him missing at seven o’clock on Sunday evening after his boat was found empty on the lake.
Four different teams from Cerro Gordo, Carroll, Sioux and Winona (MN) counties all volunteered to search the lake earlier today. Cole was a retired farmer from the Grafton area who has lived in Mason City for the last 17 years.
By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City