NEWS
Another boater disappears
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by Cynthia Martens
Monday, November 1, 2004
The Dane County Sheriff’s office is searching for 56-year-old Mitchell S. Pease, a boater who has been missing since Wednesday.
Investigators believe Mitchell launched his sailboat from Governor Nelson State Park, according to the Capital Times. His boat was found unoccupied near Mendota County Park Wednesday.
Mitchell is the second boater to go missing on Lake Mendota in the past month.
A passer-by discovered the body of Philip Mumm Friday off the shoreline of University Bay near the 1900 block of Willow Beach Drive, the Capital Times reported.
Mumm, 24, disappeared Oct. 9 when he jumped into Lake Mendota from his sailboat. Shortly after jumping, Mumm cried out for help, but his friends were unable to reach him in time, according to a release.
The Madison Fire Department arrived on the scene at 3:10 a.m. when one of Mumm’s friends called police from a cell phone on the boat. The MFD lake rescue team and the Dane County Sheriff’s lake-rescue boat then searched the waters until 4:30 a.m.
The water temperature was approximately 57 degrees at the surface when Mumm jumped into the lake.
As of press time, the MPD had not determined if alcohol played a role in Mumm’s death.
Mumm’s friends found it difficult to identify the area where Mumm entered the water. Searchers stopped looking for Mumm a few days after he disappeared. Authorities opted to wait until his body decomposed and surfaced naturally, according to the Capital Times.
Mumm was a pricing analyst at Epic Systems in Madison.
The Dane County Coroner’s Office was unavailable for comment Sunday.
The sheriff’s investigators have asked anyone with information regarding Pease’s disappearance to contact the Sheriff’s Office.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 19 boating fatalities occurred in the state in 2002 and 20 in 2003.
Anonymous (November 3, 2004 @ 5:29pm):
I love Phil and he will be remembered every day for the rest of my life.
Anonymous (November 17, 2004 @ 5:58pm):
My heart goes out to those left behind. Court, I know he loved you.
Anonymous (November 24, 2004 @ 2:59am):
Phil Mumm was one of the coolest people I've ever met and he had more and more to offer every day. I'm really having a difficult time getting by without him, but thank him for the impact he had on my life. To say he is missed by many is a gross misunderstatement of how we all feel.
