Drowning victim identified as Uncasville man

North Stonington — The 30-year-old man who drowned Monday night in Billings Lake has been identified as Scott Hurne of Uncasville, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said Tuesday.

Jazmmin Krohn said that she and three other friends were were sitting on a rock near Billings Lake boat launch about 6:30 p.m. Monday, and she had taken her dog to the top of the rock when she heard yells from a group of swimmers on the other side to call 911 and that their friend had gone underwater.

Her friend Teddy Espino immediately jumped in and began looking for Hurne, and she quickly followed.

“Adreneline kind of took over,” Krohn said.

It was still light out, but it was difficult to see into the lake water, and Espino eventually dove to the lake bottom and found Hurne about 15 minutes later, Krohn said.

However, he couldn’t carry him to shore on his own, and had to try a second time when Hurne’s friends could catch up.

“It was a group effort, no one man would have been able to (pull him ashore),” Espino said.

Espino estimated that it took six of them together to pull Hurne to shore, where Espino and a state trooper performed CPR on Hurne until the EMTs arrived.

Hurne recently had graduated to become an HVAC technician and begun working with his uncle this year, according to his aunt Gina Bragdon. She said he enjoyed bowling in tournaments with his younger brother Josh and going to Waterford Speedbowl.

“He always had a smile, no matter how down he was ... he didn’t have a mean bone in his body,” Bragdon said.

According to Charles Steinhart V, fire chief of the North Stonington Volunteer Fire Company, first responders arrived at the scene about 7:15 p.m.

He said fire and EMS personnel took over performing CPR upon arrival and relocated Hurne from a rocky area to the Billings Lake Boat Launch off state Route 201.

Crews then took Hurne to The William W. Backus Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 8 p.m., according to DEEP.

State troopers and EnCon police responded to the scene, and the latter continue to investigate the incident.

A dive team from Old Mystic and boats from the Voluntown and Pawcatuck fire departments also responded.

Billings Lake is not one of the 23 designated state park swimming areas.

Espino said he himself has gone swimming several times at Billings Lake, but he cautions others against it.

“You never know,” he said.