19-year-old drowns in Keuka Lake while on vacation

Victoria E. Freile, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Updated ·1 min read

A 19-year-old man on vacation drowned in Keuka Lake last week, according to the Steuben County Sheriff's Office.

Ahmed Ayaz of Catonsville, Maryland drowned on Friday afternoon while visiting the Town of Urbana with his family, said Steuben County Sheriff Jim Allard. Ayaz jumped off a pontoon boat into the lake to swim, was unable to swim back to the boat and went underwater, deputies said. He was not wearing a life jacket.

Emergency responders were called to the scene around 1:45 p.m. After roughly 10 hours of searching, authorities using sonar located Ayaz and recovered his body from the lake using an underwater drone.

"Our hearts go out to the Ayaz family and our thoughts and prayers are for their recovery from this tragedy," Allard said in a news release.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Ahmed Ayaz drowns in Keuka Lake while on vacation