Girl, 6, found clinging to dead body in NY lake

Lake Gleneida / NYS Department of Environmental Conservation

Updated 1:28 PM ET

(AP) CARMEL, N.Y. - Boaters rescued a 6-year-old girl from a small reservoir north of New York City late Monday afternoon after finding her clinging to the floating corpse of a family friend who had taken her to the pretty lake to cool off.

Investigators were still trying to piece together exactly what happened to the child and her caregiver, identified by authorities as Pamela Kaner, 59, of Brewster.

As reported by CBS Station WCBS News York, swimming in the lake is prohibited. The girl told police that Kaner brought her into the water and was holding her before something went wrong.

An autopsy is planned to see if Kaner then drowned, or suffered some other medical emergency.

A group of people in a rowboat heard the girl crying for help at around 5 p.m. and found her holding on to Kaner's body, floating some distance from shore, Carmel Police Chief Michael Johnson said. The lake is about 730 yards across at its widest point -- about 7 times the length of a football field.

The boaters pulled the girl from the water and brought her to shore. She was treated at a hospital, but was not seriously harmed. Kaner's body was retrieved by firefighters, who paddled out in a commandeered boat.

"I believe it was traumatic for the child," Johnson said.

[FormerUSMCSergeant]

swimming in the lake is prohibited
---
The deceased must have been illiterate.

[ffoulkes2009]

That is assuming there were signs posted to this effect.

[formerlyluvnut]

Poor kid.

[ralphing]

Nothing worse then people who think the rules don't apply to them. Getting into the water is considered swimming, and there was probably a good reason why it was prohibited.

[Truth_and_Justice]

Wow...what a worthless POS you must be....What if she simply had a heart attack and fell in? What if she slipped? To insult someone and presume the 'worst' about people without knowing anything is just stupid. The 'rules' are that you keep your mouth shut if you don't have a clue...I guess the rules don't apply to you either?

[ok_then]

Hey, Truth_and_Justice, take another look at the article where it states that the little girl stated that "Kaner brought her into the water and was holding her before something went wrong". Before you start complaining about someone's opinion, make sure you have a solid understanding of the facts first. It only makes you look foolish if you don't.

[Osprey4]

"I believe it was traumatic for the child," Johnson said.

Thank God for expert opinions.

[wouldacouldashoulda1]

Amen to that!
Did the writer need more words for the article that such a robotic response had to be added?

[canislupus16]

Sorry about the girl's friend, Hope the little girl is okay.

"The lake is about 730 yards across at its widest point - about 14 times the width of an American football field."

And all this time I thought an Amerian football field was 100 yards long.

[sandog1960]

yes - but only ~50 yards wide.

[Osprey4]

Obviously, it takes very little effort to visualize 730 yards. But a football field is 100 yards long and about 53 yards wide.