Boy Scout among 3 dead in separate N.H. water tragedies

A Beverly woman and a Boy Scout are among three people who died in separate tragedies on a lake, a pond, and a river in New Hampshire on Friday, state officials said.

A 40-year-old man was also found dead in the Piscataquog River in Manchester, New Hampshire State Police Marine Patrol said in a statement Saturday.

The woman was identified as Amy Posocco, 41, who drowned in a pond in Madison on Friday night. The scout, whose name was not immediately released, was killed in a boating accident while attending a Boy Scout camp in Gilmanton, the statement said.

The tragedies occurred in a span of several hours and drew a major response from multiple local and state public safety agencies.

Marine Patrol, New Hampshire Fish and Game Conservation Officers, and Gilmanton police first responded to Manning Lake in Gilmanton at 2:15 p.m. for a report of a boy injured in a boating accident, the statement said.

The boy was pronounced dead the at the scene. He was with a group visiting New Hampshire from out of state, officials said.

The Boy Scouts’ Daniel Webster Council in New Hampshire confirmed in a statement on Facebook Saturday that a scout had died in a “tragic accident on Manning Lake” the day prior.

“We offer our deepest condolences to the Scout’s family and ask everyone to please join in keeping this young man and his loved ones in their thoughts and prayers during this difficult time,” the council’s statement said.

While still at the scene in Gilmanton, Marine Patrol was called to the Piscataquog River in Manchester, near the border of Goffstown, where boaters had found a body in the water, officials said.

The man was identified as Shawn Barton, 40, with an unknown address, State Police said in the statement. An investigation into what caused his death is underway, the statement said.

Later, at 8:45 p.m., Marine Patrol answered a call for a possible drowning in Middle Pea Porridge Pond in Madison, where a woman went missing while swimming with her family in front of a rental property, officials said.

Family and neighbors began an immediate search for Posocco was not located until a dive team of Ossippee first responders found her body about 90 feet offshore, the statement said. ‘

The cause of her death has not been officially determined but is being considered accidental, officials said.