Authorities recover body of drowned Tahlequah man

(Tahlequah-AP) -- Authorities today recovered the body of a 23-year-old Tahlequah man who drowned in the Illinois River on Sunday.<br><br>The body of Juan Serra was recovered at about 4:10 this afternoon.<br><br>Authorities

Wednesday, May 31st 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Tahlequah-AP) -- Authorities today recovered the body of a 23-year-old Tahlequah man who drowned in the Illinois River on Sunday.

The body of Juan Serra was recovered at about 4:10 this afternoon.

Authorities say Serra went into the water near Sparrow Hawk Landing on the Illinois River. His body was found about three miles
downstream.

The river is about four feet above normal. Authorities say the body was found so far downstream because the speed of the current
quadruples when the water is that much higher.

Ed Fite and David Carroll recovered the body.

Fite is the administrator of the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission.

It was Fite's 42nd drowning recovery.

Elsewhere, authorities says rescue crews pulled the body of 29-year-old William A-Culberson the Fourth of Carrollton, Texas, from Lake Texoma.

Culberson had been missing since Saturday.