Franklin man drowns while ice fishing

Vernon — A Franklin man drowned while ice fishing alone at a small lake in the Hamburg Mountain Wildlife Preservation Area Sunday, March 8. A rescue team found Luther Stahl Jr. at about 6:15 p.m. at the site he frequented, after they were directed there by his wife and son, who had reported him missing that evening. They told police they had gone looking for him after he was late in returning home and did not answer his cell phone. “Shortly after the arrival of the rescue personnel, it was apparent from observations at the scene that the victim, fishing alone, fell through the ice and had drowned,” according to a report from the Vernon Township Police Department. Stahl was pulled out from a hole in the ice, some 25 yards from the shore, by members of the Highland Lakes and Glenwood-Pochuck Ice Rescue teams. Others called to the scene included the Vernon Fire Department and Vernon Ambulance Squad. The State Police and Port Jervis (N.Y.) Fire Department dive teams had been called, but after the quick sighting of Stahl’s body, those calls were cancelled. Members of the Sussex County Medical Examiner’s office removed his body from the scene. Investigation of the incident is continuing by the Vernon Police Department Detective Bureau.