Missing man found dead in Town Farm Bay

(The following is taken from news releases provided by the Vermont State Police)

On Sunday, Oct. 21, George Ruhe, 67, went missing from the Point Bay Marina on Thompson’s Point Road in Charlotte. Late Thursday afternoon, Oct. 25, a dive team recovered Ruhe’s body from Town Farm Bay near the marina. Ruhe’s body was then transferred to the chief medical examiner’s office in Burlington, where the cause of his death was determined to be accidental drowning.

Mr. Ruhe, of Waitsfield, Connecticut, and Brattleboro, Vermont, had told a friend on Sunday that he was rowing his dingy out to his sailboat, which was moored a short distance from the marina and which he was winterizing over the weekend on the lake. On Wednesday he was reported missing from his job, and his vehicle was discovered that same day parked at the marina.

His dingy, which had also been reported as missing, was sighted at about 2:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon in a swampy, shallow area in the south end of the bay near Thorp Brook. The Vermont State Police, with help from Point Bay Marina staff, recovered the dinghy about 20 minutes later and brought it to shore. Mr. Ruhe’s body was found shortly afterward, at about 4:30, in the marina’s mooring area.

The Vermont State Police and Point Bay Marina staff were assisted in the search by the U.S. Coast Guard and a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations unit.