Lake City Drowning Victim Identified

The body of an adult male which was recovered Sunday has been positively identified by the Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office as 56-year-old, Ronald John Highet, from Rochester, Minnesota.

Saturday at 3:15pm, the Goodhue County Emergency Communications Center received a call reporting a water emergency near the sandy point of Long Point on the Mississippi River, just north of Lake City.

According to witnesses, a 12-year-old juvenile female entered the water to wade alongside Highet, a close family friend.

While walking along the sandbar, the girl was seen in distress and a nearby boat responded and she was safely pulled from the river and did not sustain any injuries.

According to witnesses, Highet went under the water and did not resurface.

Neither he or the girl were wearing life jackets.