The bodies of two drowned men were recovered from the Dillon Reservoir Friday afternoon. An investigation into the circumstances surrounding their deaths is ongoing. The Summit County Sheriff’s Office sent out a news release at 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9. No further information is available at this time.

At approximately 7:20 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 8, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call regarding two intoxicated men driving around the Heaton Bay Campground. When deputies arrived, they found the suspected vehicle, but no one was inside.

Deputies then searched the area for over an hour — both in the campground and on the water by boat — but were unable to locate the men.

A short time later, deputies were called back to the campground. When deputies arrived, they were directed to two folded piles of clothes sitting on the beach.

The Sheriff’s Office said this is not uncommon and is usually a sign someone has gone swimming — an illegal activity in the reservoir. The water near the clothes was shallow, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

Now working in the dark, deputies again searched the beach, campground and surrounding areas and were still unable able to locate the two men. They coordinated a plan with the campground host should the men return overnight and created a plan to search the lake and surrounding area when the sun rose the next day.

As of early Friday morning, the men still had not returned, and an extensive land, air and water search was initiated by the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, Summit County Water Rescue Team and the Summit County Rescue Group. Searchers utilized land-based teams, boats, unmanned aircraft systems and underwater remote operating vehicles in an effort to locate the men.

At approximately 1 p.m. Friday, the drowned bodies of the two men were located under about 15 feet of water, approximately 100 feet off the shore from where the men had left their clothes. The area is where the shallow beach is met by a steep drop-off, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The men were recovered from the lake and transferred to the Summit County Coroner’s Office.

“This is a tragic loss of two lives. I’m incredibly proud of the men and women who participated in the search and recovery efforts and so grateful that we have the necessary training and equipment to do so. Our thoughts and prayers for all involved,” said Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons.

The Summit County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the drowning. The identification of the men, and cause and manner of death, will be released by the Summit County Coroner’s Office at a later time.