06/20/2026
JOINT PRESS RELEASE
Western Lakes Fire District & Village of Lac La Belle Police Department
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Saturday, June 20, 2026 Time: 11:00 AM CDT
SEARCH AND RECOVERY OPERATIONS UNDERWAY FOR MISSING INDIVIDUAL ON OKAUCHEE LAKE
OKAUCHEE LAKE, WI — At 10:41 p.m. on Friday, June 19, 2026, the Waukesha County Communications Center dispatched the Western Lakes Fire District and the Village of Lac La Belle Police Department to reports of an individual who had gone missing from a boat on Okauchee Lake.
Western Lakes Dive Team was immediately activated, deploying rescue boats and rescue divers to the scene, while the Lac La Belle Police Department responded concurrently with patrol boats. Due to the nature of the emergency, the incident was upgraded to a full dive response. This activation brought in the Western Waukesha Dive Team, a dedicated partnership between the Western Lakes Fire District and Lake Country Fire Rescue.
The first arriving rescue boats were deployed onto the water at 10:50 p.m. and commenced immediate search operations. Additional assistance was requested and provided by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which deployed specialized sonar equipment and remote operated underwater vehicle (ROV). The Western Lakes Fire District and Chenequa Police Department deployed multiple drones in the are to assist with the search. These multi-jurisdictional, highly coordinated search efforts continued extensively until 1:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 20.
At 1:00 a.m., active rescue operations ceased, and the incident formally transitioned into a recovery operation under the primary jurisdiction of the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department.
Search and recovery efforts officially resumed at 6:30 a.m. this morning, Saturday, June 20, 2026. The coordinated multi-agency response currently involves the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department Dive Team, the Western Lakes Fire District Dive Team, the Village of Lac La Belle Police Department, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. At this time, search efforts remain ongoing for the missing individual.
Public Safety Notice & Request for Cooperation:
The Road T boat launch on Okauchee Lake is currently closed to the public until further notice to facilitate the ongoing operations. We urgently ask the community and all boaters to avoid the area of active search efforts. The wake and traffic from civilian watercraft interfere with the highly sensitive specialized sonar and underwater equipment currently in use by the dive teams.
This remains an active and ongoing investigation. We ask the public to remain respectful and to keep the family of the missing individual in your thoughts and prayers during this extremely difficult time. Further updates will be provided by the Village of Lac La Belle Police Department as verified information becomes available.
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