GEARY COUNTY —Three days of searching have not produced any results, but authorities have identified the suspected drowning victim that they have been searching for at Milford Lake, as Jesse Paul Sockness (white man, 41, brown hair, brown eyes) of Lawrence, Kansas. He was last seen swimming to shore in Milford Lake on Saturday
According to Captain David Gilbert of the Sheriff's Department the search continued Tuesday as boats from the Geary County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit, Wildlife and Parks/Milford State Park, and Wild Life and Parks Law Enforcement Division took to the waters. The area where the subject was last seen was thoroughly searched with side scan and live view sonar east across the lake to the area of Milford State park where a makeshift water vessel was located along with the female passenger who had ridden on it with the suspected drowning victim. A couple articles of clothing believed to belong to her and Sockness were located.
The Geary County Sheriff/Junction City Fire Department Dive Team deployed into the area where Sockness was last seen and conducted several large area grid searches. All searches to this point have been met with negative results. Moving forward the Sheriff’s Office will continue to search the area throughout the coming days by land and by water multiple times each day/night.