LIBBY — LIBBY - A man died on Sunday in northwest Montana after his pickup truck went into the water at the Koocanusa Marina near Libby.
Lincoln County Sheriff Darren Short says dispatchers received a report that a vehicle was driving into the water at 4:52 p.m. Deputies arrived at the scene to find a pickup truck and attached boat trailer in the water near the end of the boat ramp.
Sheriff Short says bystanders managed to get the driver – who has been identified as Daniel Hollenkamp -- out of the vehicle and started CPR. Deputies continued resuscitation efforts until Libby Ambulance arrived at the scene and took over. However, Sheriff Short says the CPR efforts were unsuccessful.
A friend of Hollenkamp’s advised authorities they had been out fishing and when they returned to the dock Hollenkamp went up the boat ramp to get the pickup and trailer. About halfway up the boat ramp, Hollenkamp began “coughing badly,” according to a news release.
Hollenkamp continued up the ramp to get the pickup. His pickup truck was soon seen coming downhill where it continued straight down and drove off the side of the ramp and into the lake about 30 feet south of the boat ramp.
Sheriff Short says Hollenkamp was inside the truck — and under the water — for approximately 10-to-20 minutes before bystanders were able to pull the vehicle back up enough and get him out.
