CARMEL, Maine — The Carmel town manager, whose body was recovered Friday from Etna Pond, apparently saved his 4-year-old son after they both broke through the ice.
Kevin Howell, 51, was out for a walk with his son around 6:30 a.m. about one-third of a mile from their home when the two broke through the ice, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife spokesperson Mark Latti said Friday evening in a news release.
After getting his son out of the frigid water, the son ran home to get his mother. She called emergency services, told the boy to stay there, and ran out to the ice with a rope and anchor to try and help get Howell out of the water, Latti said.
A first responder to the scene, Penobscot Count Sheriff's Office Detective Jordon Norton, saw the woman in the water and began crawling across the ice to get her out and home to her son, according to the release, but there was apparently no trace of Howell.
The Maine Warden Service confirmed with NEWS CENTER Maine that Howell served as the town's manager.
Officials with the Maine Warden Service and the Carmel Fire Department arrived at the scene to assist in the search, including six warden service divers and one Maine State Police diver Friday afternoon.
Two divers with the Maine Warden Service found Howell's body shortly before 2 p.m., the release stated.
Northern Light EMS was also at the scene to assist in the search and recovery.