NEW CASTLE, Pa. – Authorities say a man drowned and his stepfather died of an apparent heart attack while rescuing a child from a frozen pond in northeastern Pennsylvania.
Divers recovered the body of 36-year-old Willard Roy Van Fleet Jr. after a three-hour search in North Abington Township on Saturday. Officials say 55-year-old Mark Keene died after collapsing on the ice.
Police say two young girls had been playing near the water when one fell in. At some point, police say Van Fleet's girlfriend also fell or jumped into the water.
The men stretched a ladder onto the ice in an attempted rescue. Police say Van Fleet jumped in while Keene held the ladder in place.
Van Fleet helped his girlfriend and the girl out of the water, but then disappeared below the surface.
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