Tahlequah Man Drowns While Swimming In Illinois River

Another man drowned while swimming in an Oklahoma river Thursday.

It happened downstream of the Highway 51 bridge crossing of the Illinois River in Cherokee, County.

Leslie "Rocky" Angel, 54, of Tahlequah, reportedly dropped a friend off in Riverside Park, just east of Tahlequah, and told him he would park his vehicle and then swim downstream to meet him.

The friend said he waited for about 20 minutes, and then he walked to where Angel had parked. There, he saw two unidentified women standing at the edge of the river, watching a man, later identified as Craig David Allen, from Peggs, pulling Angel's body out of the water.

Angel's body was transported to the Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office in Tulsa.

Rangers reported that angel was not wearing a life jacket and that alcohol use was likely a contributing factor.