Man who drowned at Hopewell Lake ID’d

He was a 27-year-old Reading resident, coroner says

A Reading man was the person who apparently drowned after leaving a boat on Hopewell Lake in French Creek Park.

A Reading man was the person who apparently drowned after leaving a small boat on Hopewell Lake in French Creek

Park while fishing with his family, acting Berks County Coroner Jonn M. Hollenbach said Wednesday.

A water rescue team recovered the body of Demetrius R. Jones, 27, on Tuesday afternoon following an exhaustive search by numerous search teams that stretched into three days.

His body was brought to shore about 1:15 p.m. Tuesday by members of Boyertown-based Keystone Water Rescue and Recovery.

The team had been called to the Union Township

site after another water search and recovery team, PA CAM Search and Rescue, detected what they thought was the body below the surface after deploying sonar about 10:20 a.m. Hollenbach said.

They called for divers from Keystone. While divers were getting ready to submerge, the body surfaced on its own about 12:50 p.m. and was brought to shore.

Deputy Coroner Bonnie Clark pronounced Jones dead at 1:25 p.m. Tuesday.

An autopsy is being conducted today in Reading Hospital.

The search began shortly after 5:30 p.m. Sunday when officials were alerted to an incident in which several people, including children, were clinging to the side of the boat and one passenger, the man, was missing.

How the situation evolved and how the man went overboard is unclear, and an investigation continues.