Authorities: Manchester Paddler Faced 'Rough' Conditions Sunday Before Being Swept Into Open Water And Perishing

MADISON, CT - The water temperature on Sunday evening was 58 degrees when a party of four set out from Hammonasset Beach State Park Sunday evening on a kayak and paddleboard, a state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection spokesman said on Tuesday.

And the wind was at least 20 mph sustained across the Sound, the Southold (NY) police chief said.

That was a recipe for disaster and hypothermia, he said. The four were pushed out into open water and two men - from Manchester and Hartford, respectively - never made it back.

A 26-year-old woman and 8-year-old from Hartford survived.

"The wind was blowing very hard at the park on Sunday," Connecticut DEEP spokesman Dennis Schain said. "It was rough."

The paddlers were off the Connecticut coast at 9 p.m. Three of them were found about 15 miles away on a beach at Orient, NY, the next morning, authorities said. The fourth was found about 10 miles off the Connecticut Coast in the water, according to details released by police.

"The conditions were not good," Southold, NY police chief Martin Flatley said Tuesday. "With the wind blowing that hard, plus the tide, things can get away from people in a kayak and paddleboard and it can become a dangerous situation. The wind will take you right out and the tide will take care of the rest. This is not a lake or a small stream. Long Island Sound is a big body of water. It doesn't matter how strong you are - you can get into trouble in open water quickly."

The conditions were so choppy that Southold police had to abandon their end of the search, even in a 27-foot twin-hull police boat, Flatley said. A 40-foot Coast Guard boat wound up being the only craft capbale of an effective search, he said.

"Our boat was taking a beating," Flatley said.

The Personal Flotation Device Manufacturers Association indicates that in 50-to-60-degree water, a person can become totally exhausted or unconscious in one to two hours in those conditions.

Southold police said that, at 3:43 a.m. an Orient, NY, resident was awakened by people yelling for help from the beach in front of a residence and called police.

An officer found two females on the beach suffering from hypothermia, according to a news release. Police identified the two as 26-year-old Delfina Reynoso and her 8-year-old daughter, Damaris Reynoso, of Hartford.

They had launched a kayak and stand-up paddleboard from Hammonasset Beach State Park with Abdias Ventura, 30, of Hartford and Ferdinand Lagos, 39 of Manchester.

The deceased body of Ventura was located onshore about a quarter-mile west of the women, Southold police said.

Lagos was found deceased in the water at 12:15 p.m., authorities said.

Exact causes of death have not been released, Flatley said.

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