Authorities Encourage Personal Safety After Multiple Drownings In NE Okla.

Four people drowned in Northeastern Oklahoma lakes on July 4th. Search teams are still looking for one of the victims.

The GRDA police and Marine division of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said none of the victims had on a personal flotation device, and in each case, that could have made the difference.

On Friday at Lake Keystone, cooler weather and clouds kept most people out of the water, and at Appalachia Bay, where two people drowned Thursday, swimmers stayed inside the designated safe area, and some wore flotation gear as well.

The two people who drowned in Appalachia Bay, 39-year-old Nathaniel Richardson and a 14-year-old boy, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, were in a group of five using a small raft to float.

“What we want to remind the public is that inflatable devices aren't allowed more than 50 feet from the shoreline, and the rule of thumb is that if it's too deep, and you can't touch, you're too far out,” said Trooper Ryan Griffith with OHP.

At Grand Lake, where the search for a missing man continues, authorities said he jumped in to help a child who had fallen from something being towed behind a boat.

Another man, 26 years old, drowned near the Flint Creek waterpark, also on July 4.

At Keystone, the man and teenager who died were found in 12 feet of water, in an area that troops say is mostly shallow but also has sharp drops to deeper water.

Troopers used sonar to find the victims, and a dive team pulled them out.

“Keep those inflatable devices close to shore or wear a flotation device,” Griffith said. “These things are designed to keep you floating.”

At many lakes, life jackets are available for free to borrow for the day.

GRDA police have not identified the missing man at Grand Lake or the man who drowned at Flint Creek.