Drowning probed as a suicide

SANDPOINT - Bonner County Sheriff's officials have identified the body of a man who was found dead in Lake Pend Oreille on Thursday as that of 56-year-old Morley Andrew “Drew” Horwitz.

The sheriff's office issued a news release Friday saying Horwitz's death has been declared a drowning.

The death is being investigated as a suicide, a fact which sheriff's officials decline to admit. It was unclear Friday how Horwitz carried out the act.

Messages left with Sheriff Elaine Savage and her lieutenants went unanswered on Friday. Northside Fire District personnel participated in the recovery, but Chief Brad Mitton said he had no information about the incident.

Horwitz was found in about 2 feet of water in Oden Bay, near the mouth of Raymond Slough. Horwitz's clothes were reportedly folded and stacked on the shoreline.

A passerby on the shore discovered the body shortly after 9:30 a.m. Horwitz had been reported missing as early as Wednesday.

Friends and family plan to celebrate Horwitz's life at the Oden Bay Wildlife Refuge at 1 p.m. on Sunday. They remember Horwitz as a compassionate man who loved the outdoors, music, the arts and winter sports.

It's the second time this season a person has drowned in Lake Pend Oreille and could prove to be the second time in three years somebody has committed suicide by drowning in the lake. Rene Frederick Behrens-Spraggins, 19, drowned in an alcohol-related kayaking accident near Black Rock on May 28. Bruce Gregory Hamilton, 53, weighted himself down with rocks and plunged into the lake near Anderson Point in June 2005.