UPDATE: teenager identified in Witmer Lake drowning
Posted: Jun 2, 2026 12:45 PM EDT | Updated: Jun 2, 2026 2:02 PM EDT
ABC 57 UPDATE: The LaGrange County coroner confirms to ABC57 that the victim is 16-year-old Jalen Paul Bontrager of Millersburg.
ORIGINAL STORY: LAGRANGE COUNTY, Ind. -- The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is investigating after a boy drowned in a LaGrange County lake.
State investigators say the LaGrange County Dispatch Center received a drowning report at Witmer Lake at about 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 30. Officers determined that a Millersburg boy jumped from a boat into the water and did not resurface.
Officials say the boat's passengers immediately jumped in the water to help but were unsuccessful.
The boy's body was found at 8:15 p.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
This incident is still under investigation.