MADISON, Ill. (AP) — A 54-year-old southwestern Illinois man has died after falling through the ice on a frozen pond while trying to retrieve a drone.
Mark A. Miller of Granite City was last seen near the entrance to the Low Water Dam on Chouteau Island in Madison shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday. Miller’s body was recovered at 2:20 a.m. Sunday and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Belleville News-Democrat reports that Miller was flying drones with his 11-year-old son when one of the drones malfunctioned and crashed on the ice.
Miller told his son to wait in their vehicle while he retrieved the drone. The boy sat in the vehicle for about three hours before it ran out of gas and he went to get help.