CAUTION URGED AT LAKE BOUTIN

One day after a fatal drowning at Lake Boutin in Trail of Tears State Park, children splashing in the water yelled, "Help me, I'm drowning!"

But none of the 70 people scattered around the beach and in the waters of Lake Boutin Tuesday afternoon stopped to listen to the cries or search for lifesaving equipment.

Anyone who did look wouldn't have found them quickly because the nearest life preserver and boat are located at a ranger station a half-mile from the lake; the telephone is only three-tenths of a mile from the beach.

But Lonnie Anderson didn't yell for a life preserver Monday before he drowned; he was swimming underwater and never came back up to the surface. Friends noticed he was missing about 30 minutes later.

Anderson, 23, of McClure, Ill., drowned while swimming in about 10 feet of water at the lake. He was not a good swimmer and was swimming outside of a designated area.

Signs posted on the beach prohibit swimming outside the designated area, but about 10 visitors were swimming outside the marked buoys Tuesday afternoon. However, park officials cannot issue tickets or citations for any violations.

"People need to take responsibility for themselves and the folks they are with," said Hershel Price, park superintendent at Trail of Tears. "If they'd do those things, then we would not have accidents like this."

In his six-year tenure at the park, two people have drowned at the lake, Price said. Both were swimming in about 10 feet of water.

The first accident occurred in 1994 when a 27-year-old Cape Girardeau man drowned while trying to rescue a child. Anderson was the second fatality.

Missouri has had about 38 drownings each year for the last three years at state-operated lakes and rivers. However, the Missouri State Water Patrol keeps records for all deaths in both public and private waters. For the first six months of 1996, 16 drownings have been reported across the state.

The 70 officers of the Missouri State Water Patrol police almost 275,000 acres of lakes and more than 1,000 miles of rivers in the state. The patrol doesn't have enough officers for every lake in the state, so park rangers often police the areas.

Missouri's state parks employ only two lifeguards for all of its public swimming areas. The two lifeguards work at beaches where visitors must pay to swim.

"Normally, there are no guards at a state park water area," said Sue Holst, a public information officer with the Department of Natural Resources, which oversees the operation of state parks. "It's unfortunate that this happened, but we did have signs posted."

Price said there are no immediate plans to add more signs or notices around the lake. "If they swim outside, it's a decision they make on their own," he said.

Tangled fishing lines, hooks, lures, wires, sunken Christmas trees and other debris line the bottom of the 25-foot-deep lake, Price said. "We realized that was a problem, so we made a safe place to swim."

The swimming area, which is about 70 feet wide, 150 feet long and 6 feet deep, was partitioned off before the Memorial Day holiday.

Boating and swimming accidents generally coincide with the summer heat and holidays, even though most people know exactly how to prevent them, officials say.

"Whether they are a recreational swimmer of a fisherman or hunter, they know the correct answers," said Capt. Charles Bent with the Missouri State Water Patrol. "But if you take them out and put them in the water, they get in trouble."

Many accidents are caused by overconfidence. Swimmers don't use their common sense and then get in trouble, he said.

Most people on shore can't spot someone who is drowning because they have a stereotypical image of someone who splashes around and goes underwater three times, Bent said.

"Usually they are floating and slide under the water. They are often so scared and just trying to stay afloat that they can't yell and just disappear."

Instead of swimming in pairs, Bent suggests people swim in groups with one person on shore to supervise and watch for dangers. "They can see something that happens and are not actively in the area," he said.

The best tip is simply to stay out of the water, Bent said.

SWIMMING DEATHS

The swimmer who drowned at Trail of Tears State Park's Boutin Lake was 70 feet outside the roped swimming area.

There have been 38 drwonings in state lakes or rivers each year since 1994; however, the Missouri Water Patrol keeps records on drownings in both public and private waterways.

Number of accidents

1996 to date, 16

1995, 111

1994, 92

1993, 19

1992, 76