Drowning death reported at Lake Darling

LAKE DARLING, N.D. (KMOT) – A 73-year-old Bottineau man drowned while trying to recover a boat on the shore of Lake Darling Thursday, according to the Renville County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Roger Hutchinson said his office received a report of a possible drowning at the lake shortly before 10 a.m. Thursday.

Witnesses told investigators that a man, identified as Douglas Trengen, was backing a boat into the water to launch. When the boat began to drift away, witnesses said Trengen went into the water without a flotation device to try to recover it, but was unable to, and then struggled to swim back to shore before going underwater.

Hutchinson said the Minot and Burlington Dive Team located Trengen’s body around 8:40 p.m. following extensive search efforts.

Roughly a dozen different agencies were involved in the response and recovery, including local authorities and North Dakota Game & Fish.