Mann’s body found

MONTEZUMA, Ohio — The body of a Portland man was found this morning more than three days after he jumped off of a pontoon boat into Grand Lake St. Marys.

Emergency personnel located the body, which was identified as Kevin Mann of Portland, about 6 a.m. today near Safety Island.

The body was transported to the Mercer County coroner’s office for an autopsy. A cause of death has not yet been determined.

Ohio Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Carey Santiana said this morning that the entire lake had been searched over the course of the holiday weekend but that efforts had focused on the area around Safety Island.

Mann’s body was found shortly after the fourth day of searching for him began this morning. Emergency workers from several agencies had looked throughout daylight hours the previous three days, with a brief break Sunday because of thunderstorms.

In addition to looking in the water, emergency personnel conducted a thorough search of Safety Island near where Mann left the pontoon, said Santiana.

Mann was on the pontoon with eight others early Saturday when he jumped into the water voluntarily. Others on the pontoon called 911 about 2:30 a.m. Saturday after Mann failed to return to the boat after several minutes.

Montezuma Fire Department began the search for Mann. ODNR later took over the lead role in the search with help from the United States Boating Alliance recovery team, Mercer County Sheriff’s Office, Celina police, the St. Marys Township, Celina and Montezuma fire departments and volunteers. Dive teams, drones, sonar scanners and K9 units were used to try to locate Mann.

Grand Lake St. Marys has an average depth of 5 to 7 feet and covers about 21 square miles between Celina and St. Marys south of Ohio 29, with Safety Island sitting about 2 miles east of the western shore of the lake and about equidistant from the northern and shorter shores. It is a man-made lake originally constructed to feed the Miami-Erie Canal.