Home > Accident > Little Girl Found Floating In Lake, Clinging To Woman’s Corpse

Little Girl Found Floating In Lake, Clinging To Woman’s Corpse

August 7, 2012 at 2:04 pm by Morbid

Carmel, NY – Yesterday afternoon, a 6-year-old girl was found floating in a New York lake while clinging to the dead body of a 59-year-old woman.

Three people in a rowboat were on Lake Gleneida fishing when they spotted the girl floating in the water while clinging to what they thought was a large plastic bag. As they got closer, they realized the girl was clinging to the corpse of a woman. The girl was brought to shore and authorities rushed to the scene.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene and her body was taken to the hospital where an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death. The girl was taken to the hospital as well, but was said to be uninjured. Physically, at least.

The dead woman was later identified as Pamela Kaner, a friend of the girl’s mother. She had been watching the girl while the girl’s mother took a car to the mechanic. Kaner and the girl had been wading in the shallow waters of the lake before something happened that lead to the girl clinging to Kaner’s dead body several hundred feet from the shoreline.

“It’s unknown if she had a medical event occur that caused her to drown or if they just got too far out,” said Carmel police Sgt. John Dearman. “We don’t know. We’re going to have to wait for the autopsy.”

Dearman also said authorities believe the incident to be accidental, but that all possibilities are being considered.

Tags: Accident, Crime, Lake Gleneida, New York, Pamela Kaner

39 Comments

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http://tothechest.com Pete Puma

I hope that little girl is going to be a “person of interest.”
Reen B

We were at a lake this summer, and my 8yo daughter wanted her scuba mask adjusted. While I looked down for maybe 10 seconds to do that, both daughters had gone out too far and the 7yo ran out of steam or something, started to panic, and grabbed onto the 8yo, pulling her under. Nobody thrashed around, nobody gasped or screamed, I didn’t realize what was happening right in front of me. Drowning is very unlike what they show in movies. The 8yo was able to surface, shove her sister away from her and toward me, and curse the daylights out of her sister while swimming back. That may have happened here too, except this poor woman didn’t make it back. Very sad. My brother and father drowned, along with their friend, in a boat accident so I have nightmares about the day I nearly lost my own child that way. It can happen in the blink of an eye.
http://www.facebook.com/JellyBellyMomma Kimberly Hanselman

Poor girl
http://www.facebook.com/JellyBellyMomma Kimberly Hanselman

I’m so sorry for your losses! Drowning is a fear of mine, as well. My brother and I were in foster care, and the foster parents allowed my brother and me to swim alone. He didn’t know how to swim, and when he didn’t surface for a little while, I realized what was happening. I managed to get him up in time, but ever since then I have been terrified of deep water and I am always right there with my son while we swim. You are so right, it’s not like in the movies. Drowning doesn’t look like drowning.
sugarpie

I’m trying to unpicture this in my mind. uuufff
Michele Miller

You are so right. Read “Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning” by Mario Vittone. Scared the crud out of me. I never take my eyes off my kids when they are in the water.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=736546181 Michael Heldman

A bad seed?
Eliza Berntsen

Oh dear, I can not even imagine just how scary it must have been for the little girl. Do you know if the police or someone else has tried to ask her what had happened?
onlyme356

Weeeeeird, poor girl how traumatic : (
JohnQknowitall

Jeez… I can’t imagine how the girl coped except for shock.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Anna-Hall-Grillot/100000054600337 Anna Hall Grillot

I hope the shock also helps erase the memories.
tinalib13

You are soooo wrong.
Sam

Right? Her way of letting mom know she didn’t approve of her friends?
http://twitter.com/awholenewday natashaleigh

My son almost drowned me this spring. He is five and I am not a small woman, in my thirties and I have been swimming all of my life. I read a story about a man being drowned by swans shortly after. I have had a whole new respect for drowning and how easily and quickly it can happen ever since. Terribly sad story, whatever happened.
guillotinegirl

Cue Pennywise the Clown saying, “They all float down here.”
Gee

Awww… Just sad to think of how scared that little must have been.
pikeman

The woman probably tried to save the girl, and ended up drowning herself.
The_Yeti_Knows

Yeah, You’re right dude… I imagine in your dressup trunk you can slip on your gypsy outfit, get a good look in the crystal ball…. you’ve always had the hair, nails and breath for it…. wont take long.
The_Yeti_Knows

That’s harsh dude, we just had a monobrow drown here on Lake Titicaca ….. saying he’s lining the Salmon’s shelves is an understatement
The_Yeti_Knows

Gilligan, while the rest of us are chatting up Ginger or Mary-Anne you and Mr Howell are gargling Iguana shots.
Whatevn

I was at summer camp. A bible camp or whatever. And my foot got caught in a boat we were racing in. I cant explain how unsafe this was. They basicly just threw kids on this boat. where it could tip any moment if someone moved the wrong way.

The losing team went to out boatto tip it over for fun. I wasnt going to have any part in that, so I went to jump out before it could happen, thats when I found out I was stuck. I tried to yell out to them “Stop! Dont tip me! My foot!” But they couldnt hear me over the tons of girls screaming in flirty manners to the boys.

Suprisingly, I was calm. I tried to work my foot out with the air I had in me and, the whole time, I cursed everyone one in that camp to hell if I died here. After realizing I couldnt do anything, I relaxed my body giving up.

Somehow, maybe whatever God that might be up there, felt pity, my foot got free. I had a cut over my foot where the boat had caught me but, other than that, I was unharmed.

:/ I swam to a person who was suppose to be watching us as I caught my breath and all he said was, “Oh.”

Family camping only for me, now.
JGo555

Worst idea for new water transportation. Sure it’s organic and all biodegradable but not very wise.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000196305883 Heather Robbins-Puliafico

CARMEL, N.Y. (AP) — A heart attack probably caused the death of a woman whose body was found with a crying 6-year-old clinging to it in the middle of a reservoir, a coroner said Wednesday.
Putnam County Coroner Dr. Hari Chakravorty said an autopsy revealed that Pamela Kaner, a friend of the girl’s family, did not drown. The 59-year-old woman suffered from hypertensive heart disease and ‘‘did suffer a heart attack,’’ he said.
The finding is preliminary until toxicology tests are completed, he said.
The girl, whose name has not been made public, was rescued Monday when boaters heard her crying on Lake Gleneida in Carmel. They found her holding onto the body, loaded her into their boat and took her to shore.
Carmel Police Chief Michael Johnson said the girl told police that Kaner, of Brewster, who was caring for her while her mother ran an errand, took her into the water and was holding her when something went wrong.
The bodies of drowning victims usually sink, then return to the surface as they decompose, Johnson said Tuesday. Kaner’s body was retrieved by firefighters, who paddled out in a commandeered boat.
The girl was treated at a hospital but was not seriously injured.
pikeman

At least I’m not a big, hairy, ape-like know it all that likes to insult people with comments that can rarely be understood. Really, Yeti, what the fuck is up with you? You’re shit is going downhill. You need to lay off the butt-sex with Uncle Clem and get a grip. This is a public forum, you’re letting us all down.
HeatherA80

“Drowning” in movies is actually “distress”……It happens, but it happens while the person still has the energy to keep their head above water and try to signal for help. Actual drowning is quiet and with no distress signals such as splashing around or reaching up.
pikeman

What the fuck does that even mean?
The_Yeti_Knows

Buy low, sell high….. and don’t bury the papaya where you can’t find it….. Its good news all around when you show interest in things beyond your huckleberry there fish boy.
The_Yeti_Knows

Tell you what, Ill ask no questions if you ever have to surf to shore on a corpse okay dingleberry?
http://www.facebook.com/robert.lacour.9 Robert LaCour

thanks for clearing that up
Canuck Gramz

Reen I am so sorry for your loss!!
Canuck Gramz

What a harrowing experience!! Some angel was watching out for you that day, unlike the stupid people around you!
Canuck Gramz

I agree!! First thought was I was glad that the little girl was alive ( and what an amazing will to live!) Second thought was ” how on earth will this poor child live with this!”
Canuck Gramz

nose plugs
Canuck Gramz

I was at the lake yesterday with some of my grown up children with their little ones and some of their friends and their children. I have to say that it was so much fun watching the kids play and have water fights and all these parents working together to keep an eye on them . Well there a lady with one of those little raft like thingies that blow up and she was drifting along with her little boy in with her. She was watching and being careful but somehow she didn’t see our 2 (cherub) grandaughter paddling about just in front of the raft. Suddenly four adults were converging and moving at amazing speeds toward what we knew we would happen. Yep she got knocked over and went under the boat. She was perfectly fine and the group of parents managed to calm down the little girl and also reassure the poor traumitised mother who was “driving” the thing. Spunky little thing went back out after being fortified with snacks and multiple hugs from various moms and two grandmoms. She even waved cheerfully at the lady who caused the dunking. A big PHEW and lots of thank gods!
http://twitter.com/Bigcced Cedric

Wow – what a great sitter,even after dying Pamela took care of the child;this kind of dedication is truly rare.
http://twitter.com/Bigcced Cedric

I jumped into a lake when I was 6 years old … I did not have even a clue as to how to swim at the time (I thought you just jumped in and swim – like on TV).I went straight down like a light weight rock … I would have to disagree with your statement “Actual drowning is quiet and with no distress signals such as splashing around or reaching up.” There can be plenty of distress involved in actual drowning – someone just has to be under the water with the person to witness it. I will never forget that day when I almost lost my life in that lake – I was plenty distressed,and if not for a 14 year old boy who saw me jump in and not come up,if not for him managing to somehow drag my flailing ass up and out of that lake I wouldn’t be here now.
HeatherA80

I was a lifeguard for 10 years…..I’m probably just not wording it right. When people think of someone drowning, they think of what they see in the movies……..people splashing around, waving their hands above the water, etc. That’s not what lifeguards are taught to be “drowning”….it’s taught as “distress” which WILL lead to drowning if immediate action is not taken. But when someone is in the act of drowning but their head has not fully submerged yet, they are usually quiet……because their instincts are doing everything they can to keep their head above. They are too weak at that point to do anything else…all their energy is being used to try and survive. I didn’t mean to sound like I was trying to say that they weren’t actually distressed. “Distressed” and “Drowning” are just two different terms used in lifeguarding classes. Sorry for any confusing ramblings…..lol
eric ellers

“Look at me, Damien! It’s all for you.”
HaileyT.

Da fuck? lol that’s very interesting to say the least… (^_^)