HUGHESVILLE – A young man identified as Thomas M. Rogers, drowned last Tuesday afternoon, June 21 in Muncy Creek, according to Trooper Jennifer Jackson. “He slipped on a rock and fell into the creek while at a swimming hole with a group of friends,” she said. His friends tried to reach him when they saw that he was in trouble but they couldn’t get to him in time according to one firefighter at the scene.

The drowning occurred in the 300 block of Pine Run Road in Wolf Townshio about 2:20 p.m. The victim was unable to swim and drowned in an area that was fourteen to sixteen feet deep reported Jackson. She did not say if the teenager had been in the water earlier or if he was just hanging out with friends when he fell into the water. He lived at the Meadowbrook Trailer Court at 2381 Route 405.

Paramedics and emergency medical technicians from Hughesville and Muncy Creek Township and the Clinton Township Fire Company worked feverishly to try and save the man’s life when his body was brought to shore,” Clinton Township Fire Chief Todd Winder said. Divers from Clinton Township and the West Branch Scuba Team responded to the scene shortly after 3 p.m. Rogers was found about fifteen feet from the shoreline in an area that was about 14 to 16 feet deep within ten minutes after divers entered the water, Winder said of the victim.

“Everything that could be done to save him was done. The EMT’s and paramedics went the extra mile but, sadly, he could not be revived,” Winder said.

Lycoming County Coroner, Charles E. Kiessling Jr. said Deputy Coroner Dean Kirkendall pronounced the teen dead at the scene at 4 p.m. Kiessling said Rogers died of asphyxiation due to an accidental drowning.

“There have always been people swimming at that hole in the summer. It’s know as The Point,” according to another firefighter familiar with the site. “It’s not the first drowning to happen there,” he added. “It’s kind of dangerous there because there are currents that easily trap even the most experienced swimmers.” The creek is about 25 feet wide at the swimming hole and is quite shallow for the first 4 to 5 feet from the shoreline, then it suddenly drops off.