ID of drowned ice fisherman released

Carbon County officials have released the name and cause of death of a 70-year-old Bethlehem fisherman who apparently fell through thin ice Thursday at Beltzville Lake.

William Shipe Jr.’s cause of death has been ruled as an accidental drowning following an autopsy, Carbon County Coroner Robert W. Miller Jr. said Saturday. Officials had recovered his body Friday morning.

According Terry Brady, spokesman for the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, divers recovered the body at about 11 a.m. Friday near a patch of ice where crews found his fishing equipment late Thursday. Some of the gear the man was using to bait the fish was floating in the water, as the ice where it had been secured had already melted, Brady said.

State police were called to assist the DCNR at 8:12 p.m. Thursday, when the fisherman’s wife alerted police that he had not come home from his fishing. Authorities found his vehicle parked at the Preacher’s Camp parking area before heading out onto the water.

The search began around 8:30 p.m. Thursday and involved the Towamensing Fire Company and Lehighton Fire Department’s Search and Rescue Team. It lasted until about 11 p.m. and resumed Friday morning.

Temperatures on Thursday were around 70 degrees in the area, shattering records in the Lehigh Valley to the south. Water temperatures at Beltzville Lake have recently been hovering around 38 degrees.