MUSKOGEE COUNTY — Oklahoma Highway Patrol said two people died after drowning May 5 in Muskogee County.
2 News Oklahoma went to the R.V. park where it went down and is getting us more clarity from authorities about how this happened.
“Late last [Monday] night, we received a call of two victims possibly missing out of a canoe,” OHP Lt. Mark Southall told the press Tuesday morning.
That was at Silver Canyon R.V. Ranch, which is near the small towns of Oktaha and Summit, both south of Muskogee.
Southall told us search teams Tuesday morning found both a man and a girl in a small body of water on the property.
“There were four people on a canoe,” he explained. “The canoe capsized. Two people were able to get away from the canoe and get back to shore. Two were not.”
When asked what his reaction was to hearing the news, Mark Mullen replied, “Well, it is sad. It's sad that that happened overnight.”
Mullen lives less than a mile from the R.V. park and has been an area resident for about 40 years.
He told us the park is a relatively new addition to the area, along with the quarry ponds on the park grounds that people use for swimming, fishing, and canoeing.
“I don't know exactly the time it's been open,” said Mullen. “But it's probably been no more than a year.”
Southall told the press on Tuesday morning that the people were all members of a larger family but couldn’t say exactly how they were related.
While he said the weather and floodwaters were not a factor, he noted, "Four people typically overloads a canoe."
As for where the family is from or if they were wearing life jackets, Southall had no answer.
We called him later in the day on Tuesday to get more clarity, especially about the life jackets.
We also emailed and called Muskogee County Emergency Management to see if they had any other details.
We even went to the R.V. park’s front office midday Tuesday. Even though they had a sign saying “open,” the door was locked and the lights were off.
Late Tuesday afternoon, OHP sent an update, saying the victims were a 42-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl. The update mentioned nothing about life jackets.
As we learn more from authorities about the nature of this drowning and the people involved, we’ll keep you updated on air, online, and on the 2 News app.
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