BAZETTA TOWNSHIP, Ohio - Duck hunters on the shores of Mosquito Lake heard cries for help around 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning and immediately contacted the Bazetta Fire Department.
A boat filled with three hunters got swamped and was sinking.
Chief Dennis Lewis said, "When they were getting to the area where they were going to deploy their boat and their duck decoys, they stopped and a big wave of water came over the boat and just sunk the boat."
Recovery crews pulled the body of 35-year-old Daniel Khalil, Jr. from the lake approximately 12 hours after he went under.
The two other hunters had been rescued early on.
They were treated for hypothermia at a nearby hospital, but after their release they were adamant about returning to the lake as divers, fire fighters and dogs searched for their friend.
Dave Miketa of New Springfield was with another group of hunters who found Khalil's belongings.
"We found his I.D. and backpack, waders, more decoys, things like that. So we thought we need to grab them up and get them in here," Miketa said.
One of the wives of the surviving hunters said that the men work in the oil and gas industry and moved to the area six months ago from Louisiana.
Khalil, originally from Pittsburgh, was an attorney and land man for the industry.
This is a sad day for hunters like Miketa who didn't even know Khalil.
"You don't want to see anything bad like that happen to a fellow duck hunter," Miketa said.
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