SPANAWAY, Wash. — The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department says a 20-year-old man, who went missing last week, drowned in Spanaway Lake over the weekend.
The man’s body was discovered early Sunday morning near a swimming area of the lake.
“Unfortunately when someone drowns, we wish we had done one more thing and then it’s too late at that point,” Sgt. Darren Moss Jr. with PCSD said.
Sgt. Moss Jr. said the 20-year-old’s family reached out to them on Friday, saying that the man went swimming at Spanaway Lake Thursday, but hadn’t returned home.
Divers searched the water all day Friday but could not find him.
Detectives did find the man’s phone and clothes on shore and his car was in the parking lot.
It’s not clear right now how this man drowned, but Sgt. Moss Jr. is reminding people to always be careful when going in Spanaway Lake, really any body of water.
“So, you think you’re going to swim out, touch a buoy or something, and swim to the other side of the lake and come back when you get out in the middle of the water and you’re tired and you can’t do anything, that’s big trouble,” Sgt. Moss Jr. said.
Family members later identified the man as 20-year-old Steven Gerrard Obote, also known as Frank, saying, “He was someone who combined a love for knowledge with a generous spirit, making a meaningful impact on those around him.”
The family has set up a GoFundMe to honor Frank’s memory and cover funeral expenses.
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