UW Student Drowns In Lake Chelan, Sheriff's Office Says

SEATTLE, WA - The Chelan County Sheriff said Wednesday that a 23-year-old University of Washington student had drowned in Lake Chelan on Tuesday afternoon. Donghoon Lee, 23, was attending UW on a student visa from South Korea.

Rescue personnel on Tuesday near 3:30 p.m. responded to the Three Fingers area of Lake Chelan, which is just west of the downtown Chelan area, on a report that a swimmer was having difficulty. A group of people were out on the lake on a boat swimming in about 30 feet of water, the department reported.

The swimmer, later identified as Lee, began struggling and slipped under the water. His friends tried to help him by throwing a floating device into the water, but Lee was not able to reach it.

The Chelan County Sheriff worked with the South Korean consulate in Seattle to notify Lee's family. Lee's body was not able to be located on Tuesday, but divers were scheduled to return to the water on Wednesday afternoon to resume the search.

Image via Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife