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Accidental Drowning while fishing  

Disappearance of Culve Man Creates Mystery

The disaapearance of George Brown, former waiter at the Academy and recently employed doing odd jobs about town, is enveloped in somewhat of a mystery and it may be several days before any definite conclusions are reached, says the Culver Citizen

Thursday the boat in which he is said to have gone fishing was found empty on Lake Maxinkuckee

THe boat was anchored and fishing p oles were set but no Georhe Brown was in the craft.

It was decided he must have fallenn overboard and dorwned, since it was too far for most persons to swim to shore.

THe lake was dragged for two days without success and on Friday when the water was unusually clear the bottom was carefully searched without any signs of the body.

Howeever, it i s possible that the body might have been washed away in Thursday's storm from the area where the boady was anchored, thus causing the searching crew to miss it with grappling hooks. In this case the body should come to the surface withing the next week.

A theory has been advanced that Brown might have left town and his family, using the empty boat as a decoy to check any search for him elsewhere - Bremen Enquirer (Indiana) - Nov. 9, 1939

Rochester News-Sentinel of Friday, November 10, 1939 ---- The body of a 46-year-old Culver colored man, whom police described as "his own worst enemy" was taken from the cold waters of Lake Maxinkuckee at Culver Thursday morning about 8 o'clock, after he had been missing 15 days. He was George BROWN, a handy man about the town there.

Coroner L. W. VORE of Plymouth returned a verdict of accidental drowning while fishing.

The colored man a former employe [employee] at the Culver Military Academy, was last seen about 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 25 by A. B. "Nick" LONG, who had given him some minnows before he rowed his boat away from Brown's and came to shore. When Long arose the next morning and went to the lake for more fishing, he saw the empty boat, anchored at about the spot at which he had last seen it the night before.

Upon investigating, officials found part of the fish line and a baited hook on the inside of the boat but the pole was missing.

The colored man's wife, Ada Lee [BROWN], reported to Town Marshal Charles BUFFINGTON early on the morning of Oct. 26 that her husband had not been home over night and feared that he had drowned while fishing. Mr. Buffington, along with other men, began to draw the vicinity where the boat was anchored. At intervals the men continued dragging the vicinity until Monday noon, Oct. 30, when they gave up the search. Cold weather and high waves halted their search at times.

About 8 o'clock Thursday morning, Ivan LOWDON and "Monty" LAWRENCE saw the body floating on the lake, about 250 yards off shore from the site of the old Lake View hotel, with the fish pole still clutched in his hand.

> The men rowed a boat out into the lake and brought the dead man's body ashore and called the Easterday funeral home at Culver . The funeral home in turn immediately notified Dr. Vore who ordered the funeral director to remove the body to the funeral home.

The dead man, a resident of Culver many years, was a veteran of the World war, having fought with 809th Pioneer Infantry, Company A and enlisted at Indianapolis. He was honorably discharged on July 23, 1919, after serving about one year.