Deputies find Sandpoint man who drowned in Lake Pend Oreille

The body of a Sandpoint man who drowned in Lake Pend Oreille was found Wednesday morning. Jeremy Heckert, 38, was pulled out of the lake around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday near Hope, Idaho. Heckert was about 135 feet underwater earlier in the morning when a search team using sonar detected his body, Bonner County Undersheriff David Hale said. Heckert had been out fishing with a friend on July 10. The friend told investigators Heckert dove into the water to cool off and sober up. Heckert was not wearing a life vest. Some of the friend’s statements to investigators were inconsistent, and he may have been intoxicated, but he is not suspected of a crime, Hale said. The discovery marks the end of a three-week search. On July 19, search dogs identified the presence of a scent along the lakeshore, giving authorities a new area to search. A Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office team assisted two days later. Heckert was found with help from a sonar team at Ralston & Associates, a company based in Kuna, Idaho.