Fairfield Drowning Victim Identified: Police

FAIRFIELD, CT — A Bridgeport man drowned Sunday morning at the Lake Hills Beach area in Fairfield, according to police.

Authorities identified the victim as Karlis Eltermanis, 35, of Bridgeport, police said.

About 8:40 a.m., emergency personnel received a 911 call about a missing swimmer at Lake Hills Beach 1, off Tahmore Drive, according to police, who said the caller told officials he and a friend had gone swimming but his friend had been underwater about three minutes. Firefighters said the man dove off a dock and did not resurface, according to a department news release.

More than four hours after the emergency call, crews recovered Eltermanis’s body roughly 50 feet from shore and in approximately 5.5 feet of water, police said. He was brought to shore and pronounced dead, according to firefighters.

Both police and fire officials offered their condolences to Eltermanis's family.

"The Fairfield Fire Department would like to remind everyone how quickly drownings can occur," the news release said, citing the American Institutes for Research statistic that 57.1 percent of aquatic-related accidents happen in natural bodies of water such as lakes or rivers.

"Make sure to take extra precautions in circumstances involving natural bodies of water by testing the water’s depth and always remember that natural occurrences can affect the water’s depth."

Sunday's drowning is being investigated by Fairfield detectives and the state medical examiner’s office, according to police.

Several agencies assisted in responding to the incident, including the Fairfield Police Department, Fairfield Fire Department, American Medical Response, and dive teams from Bridgeport and Trumbull.