Fishermen find missing swimmer dead in Völkermarkt reservoir

Fishermen found a 43-year-old man dead in the Völkermarkt reservoir on Friday morning, six days after he went missing, ORF reported. A criminal police investigation determined that he drowned, and found no evidence of third-party involvement.

The man, from the district of St. Veit an der Glan, had swum late on September 12 from a fishing jetty to a cabin boat about 50 metres away. His partner and a fisherman were on board.

When the 32-year-old woman saw her partner, she jumped into the water and tried to swim the final metres to the boat with him. The fisherman said both suddenly disappeared beneath the surface shortly before reaching the boat.

He managed to reach the woman, secure her and pull her into the boat. She was taken to hospital. He could no longer see the man and immediately alerted the emergency services.

Firefighters, divers, water rescue teams, boats, helicopters and drones took part in an extensive search, but the man was not found until Friday.