Dad dies saving 4-year-old son after both plunge into icy pond, Maine cops say

Don Sweeney
·2 min read
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A father died saving his 4-year-old son after both plunged through thin ice into a frozen pond, Maine officials reported.

Kevin Howell, 51, and his son had gone for a morning walk when they both broke through the ice on Etna Pond at 6:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 26, the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Howell lifted his son from the frigid water onto the ice and told him to get his mother, deputies said. The boy ran about a third of a mile to their home.

His mother called 911, told her son to stay home and raced to rescue her husband with an anchor and rope, deputies said.

She secured the anchor on shore and went onto the frozen pond carrying the rope, but then also fell through the ice, deputies said.

Sheriff’s detective Jordan Norton, who was in the area, responded to her 911 call and crawled onto the “treacherous” ice after her using the rope, the release said. He rescued the woman but could not find Howell.

Six Maine Warden Service divers and one State Police diver later found Howell’s body in the pond, deputies said.

Howell, the town manager of Carmel, moved to the community in 2014 with his wife, according to his biography on the town’s website. Their son was born in 2019.

“Kevin was a wonderful, wonderful guy,” Daniel Frye, chairman of the town’s Board of Selectmen, told the Portland Press Herald. He called Howell “a stand-out guy.”

“He was always working on the next project,” Frye said. “His death is a big loss for the town.”

In his spare time, Howell enjoyed woodworking, building cedar log furniture, working on his family hobby farm and spending time outdoors with his family, his biography said. He also was an avid cook.

Carmel is about 115 miles northeast of Portland, Maine.

What to do if you fall through ice

It’s never a guarantee that ice is safe to walk on.

You can’t judge the strength of ice by its appearance. Its strength also has to do with the water under the ice and the distribution of the load on the ice, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Even if every safety precaution is followed, sometimes the ice can begin to shatter. Here’s what to do if you find yourself plunging through ice:

  • Don’t take off your winter clothing. They’ll keep you warm and provide flotation.

  • Turn toward the direction you came.

  • Put your hands and arms on unbroken ice, and use available tools to try to pull yourself up.

  • Kick your feet and dig in.

  • Lie flat on the ice to keep your weight spread out. This will help prevent you from falling in again.

  • Get to a warm and dry place immediately.

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