HOT SPRINGS -- A man who drowned in Lake Hamilton last week has been identified as a Smackover man, according to a Garland County sheriff's office report.
Enrique Luis Morales Ortiz, 31, who was tubing on the lake, had removed his life jacket and drowned after falling off the tube, the report said.
A Marine Patrol deputy responded to the scene of the reported drowning about 7 p.m. Friday off Long Island Drive east of Arkansas 7 south. The deputy was instructed to find a white, 25-foot 2014 South Bay pontoon boat that had been rented earlier in the evening, and was joined a few minutes later by a second sheriff's Marine Patrol unit.
The deputies later received additional information that the accident scene was nearby, in the area of 420 Broadview Point. After arriving at that location, the deputies were joined by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission officers and met with Frank and Kimberly Humphreys, also of Smackover.
According to statements the couple gave to the deputies, Frank Humphreys was operating the party barge and Kimberly Humphreys was sitting on the back of the boat watching Ortiz, who was being pulled on a tube.
Both said they stopped to check on Ortiz, who said the life jacket he was wearing was choking him. Ortiz reportedly pulled off the life jacket and threw it into the boat and continued to be towed without wearing it.
Their statements said Ortiz fell off the tube and started struggling while yelling "too much, too much."
Frank Humphreys said he turned the party barge around and tried to throw the life jacket to Ortiz, but it fell short. Kimberly Humphreys then jumped into the water and attempted to swim to his aid, but Ortiz went under and did not resurface.
Ortiz's body was recovered at 8:23 p.m. The Garland County coroner's office was also notified.
Frank Humphreys was transported to CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs for a blood test and then returned to the Broadview Point location. A deputy then escorted Frank and Kimberly Humphreys and the party barge back to the Clarion Resort on the Lake, where they were staying.
State Desk on 07/09/2014