Man Drives Into Lake Ray Hubbard, Drowns

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LAKE RAY HUBBARD (CBSDFW.COM) - Divers have recovered the body of a man witnesses say drove his van into Lake Ray Hubbard.

Nick Reynolds and Daniel Long were headed to go fishing, traveling near the Bayview Marina in Rowlett, when the van plowed off a boat ramp.

Reynolds said he did everything he could to try and help. ."I took off all my clothes and I dive in after him and he's probably 50 yards out. And as I'm swimming, the coldness of the water starts to make my muscles seize up and start breathing real heavy and I realize he's too far."

The men said they tried, crying out to the man.  "We can see him in his van, windows down, his seatbelt on,"recalled Long. "And, we're yelling at him, 'Get out of your car. We can help you. We'll help you.' And, he just shook his head 'no' and floated on and eventually just sank to the bottom."

It was around 9:30 p.m. when a heavy duty wrecker to haul the submerged van out of the lake.

The events at the lake have been overwhelming for Reynolds. "Watching somebody die is terrible. It's not a good feeling. You can never know what happened, what the story is."

The man may not have wanted their help, but the two witnesses say it's still a gut-wrenching feeling to know they couldn't reach him. "Thinking about it now, could I have done more? There would have been probably two people underwater. There's just nothing else I could have done. Nothing," says Reynolds.

(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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