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June 4, 2008

Area man drowns near old Lake Frances dam

By BETTY SMITH

TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS — An area man drowned Monday night after trying to walk across the old Lake Frances Dam near Watts.

Witnesses reported Ryan Snell, 26, was trying to cross the dam when the water swept him over, Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission Administrator Ed Fite said.

Snell had come to the park near the dam with his 7-year-old daughter.

“Witnesses said they saw him get on top of the old dam, and he was trying to cross it when he was swept off by the water,” Fite said. “He got caught in the boil below the dam, surfaced once or twice, and went under.”

Two people fishing on the north side of the dam called 911, while a man on the south side went to help the little girl.

Firefighters from Siloam Springs, and emergency personnel from Watts, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Cherokee Nation Marshal Service, and OSRC Ranger John Burmier tried to rescue Snell.

Siloam Springs firefighters launched two boats, and found his body about 9:45 p.m. in grass on one side of the river, about two-thirds mile downstream from the dam, near the U.S. 59 and Kansas City Southern Railroad bridges. He was recovered about 10:10 p.m., Fite said.

Fite said people shouldn’t attempt to cross low dams like the Lake Frances one, especially after periods of rain such as that which occurred Sunday.

“Yesterday we almost had a drowning at the low-water dam at Flat Creek,” he said Tuesday evening.

Sudden high rains make rivers and streams flow much faster than normal.

“When you double the speed of the water, you quadruple the power,” Fite said. “The power of the water was greater than he could stand.”

He said many people don’t realize how dangerous low-water dams and the remains of the Lake Frances dam can be.

Snell’s body has been turned over to the state medical examiner’s office for confirmation on the cause of death.

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