Pinecrest Lake Drowning
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Pinecrest, CA — A man drowned over the weekend in Pinecrest Lake.
The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office reports that 20-year-old Nicholas Alexander Gaerlen of Arcata was swimming with friends, in an area that was 20-25 ft. deep. For an unknown reason, Gaerlen went under and did not return to the surface. Help was called in, but Gaerlen had died by the time he reached the shore.
Gaerlen did not appear to be having any trouble prior to going under, and he was considered to be in good physical shape. The Sheriff’s Office reports that a contributing factor may have been that he was wearing long camouflaged pants and steel toed style boots while swimming. It is not known why he was wearing those items.
