The Newton County Sheriff’s Office has identified Thursday’s drowning victim as 47-year-old Kevin Mazzagate of Orange.
He died in the flooded Sabine River at Indian Lake south of Deweyville.
Calls for assistance went out at 3 p.m. Thursday. His body was found about 4:13 p.m. by a crew from the Orange County Emergency Services District No. 3 in Little Cypress. Fire Chief Mike Manshack said the victim and a woman had gone swimming.
The river on Thursday was a foot and a half above flood level.
Kevin Mazzagate came from a long-time Orange family. His father, Roy Mazzagate Jr., was a pharmacist and minister, who died on October 17.
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