An Overland man died Saturday evening (July 25) after diving into shallow water at Valle Lake, a private subdivision lake north of Valles Mines in Jefferson County, the Missouri State Highway Patrol reports.
At about 6:45 p.m., Mark A. Friedel, 52, of Overland dived into the water and then surfaced gasping for air before going under the water again and then resurfacing face down, the report said.
A bystander got Friedel out of the water, and he was taken by Valle Ambulance to Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Crystal City, where he was pronounced dead, said Sgt. Al Nothum of the Highway Patrol.
Nothum said the exact cause of death is still to be determined, but it is being called a drowning because the accident involved water.