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Cause of Sebago Drowning a Mystery

August 11, 2009 - RAYMOND -- The Maine Warden Service said Wednesday that it may never know what caused 21-year-old Sean Casey of Cape Elizabeth to drown in Sebago Lake this week.

Casey and four friends were swimming in Jordan Bay on Monday afternoon when he dropped below the surface near their motorboat. His body was recovered by divers Tuesday morning in about 50 feet of water.

Jason Luce, the warden who led the investigation, said there was no evidence that Casey struck his head or suffered any other type of injury.

Investigators are still awaiting the results of a toxicology test from the state Medical Examiner's Office, he said.

"Sean seemed fine. He went under the water and he never came back up," Luce said. "Unfortunately, we don't know a lot more."

Luce said Casey and his friends set out from Raymond Beach to enjoy a warm summer day in a motorboat owned by Alexander Goduti of Falmouth. In addition to Goduti, the group included another male friend and two young women.

They had been swimming for a few minutes when Casey disappeared. Luce said Casey's friends searched for him before calling 911 on a cell phone.

Authorities captured the GPS coordinates from that call, which enabled them to concentrate their search.

"If we didn't have this technology, we might still be out there looking for Sean," Luce said.

A celebration of Casey's life will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Fort Williams Park soccer field in Cape Elizabeth. Casey played soccer until he was 15 years old.

His parents, John and Deborah Casey, live in Cape Elizabeth. John Casey is the assistant principal at Cape Elizabeth Middle School, and Deborah Casey is a seventh-grade teacher at the school.

Family members and friends gathered at their home Wednesday night.

Deborah Casey said her son left Cape Elizabeth High School after his freshman year to attend Portland High. He played baseball and basketball at Portland High, graduating in 2006.

He also was a student at Southern Maine Community College, where he played baseball. This summer he played baseball for the Lenders Network team in Portland's Twilight League.

Jane Mack, a teacher who was Casey's adviser at Portland High, said, "He was an incredibly charismatic, sweet kid who had many, many fans at Portland High School."

She said some of his high school coaches said Casey had "incredible" athletic ability.

Deborah Casey said her son was still trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. He was taking some basic, core courses at SMCC.

"Sean was one of those people who, when he put his mind to something, he could do anything," she said.

By DENNIS HOEY, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, August 6, 2009


Lakes: Sebago Lake
Regions: Sebago


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