2 Bodies Pulled From Big Marine Lake After Boating Accident Friday

WASHINGTON COUNTY, MN — The bodies of two men were found in Big Marine Lake after a boating accident Friday, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday evening.

Crews pulled a man’s body out of the lake Friday evening after he and another man were ejected from a boat earlier that day, according to the sheriff's office.

The body of the other man was found just before 4 p.m. Saturday after a rescue dive team from Washington County resumed its search of the lake earlier that afternoon, police said.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office did not identify the men Saturday.

Deputies responded just before 2 p.m. Friday to a 911 caller who reported boaters were in distress on the north side of the lake in Scandia, according to a news release. Witnesses told police two men lost control of a boat shortly after leaving the landing and were thrown into the water, the release states.

Several people heard the men calling for help and searched for them in their own boats but could not find them Friday afternoon, police said.

Crews found one man's body shortly after 7 p.m. Friday and searched for the second man's body "well past midnight" before pausing due to weather, according to the sheriff's office.