Mason man ID’d as drowning victim in VOA pond

The Butler County Coroner declared Yue drowned, according to the office’s report.

First responders were called to the park just after 8 a.m. after maintenance workers noticed a cellphone, keys, dog leash and prints leading into the pond. Crews quickly found the body of a dog when they got into the water, which was about 27 degrees. Ninety minutes later, they recovered a man’s body along with the second dog.

Prinz said crews had to cut ice with an axe and sledgehammer in order to get to and remove the man’s body.

Though Yue’s identity has been released, details on how long he could have been in the pond has not been released.

Prinz said he assumes the man was trying to get one of the dogs out of the pond and did not realize the depth of the pond or the impact of the temperature.