Fisherman Drowns In River

IDABEL, Okla. (AP) -- A Texas man drowns in a state park in far southeastern Oklahoma on Wednesday.<br/><br/>The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says 49-year-old Robert Mesecke was pronounced dead on arrival at

Thursday, March 8th 2007, 5:28 am

By: News On 6

IDABEL, Okla. (AP) -- A Texas man drowns in a state park in far southeastern Oklahoma on Wednesday.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says 49-year-old Robert Mesecke was pronounced dead on arrival at McCurtain Memorial Hospital in Idabel.

Troopers say the Coppell, Texas, resident was fishing in a foot of water in the Mount Fork River at Mount Fork State Park when he slipped on rocks and was swept 75 feet downstream about 2:20 p.m.

Friends in a canoe retrieved him from ten feet of water and an ambulance transported him to the hospital.

The patrol says he was not wearing a floatation device.