Newton Country Sheriff, Robert Burby, announced the Sunday morning recovery of the body of a swimmer who drowned Saturday, August 10, in Toledo Bend.

The 23-year-old male was identified as Noah Roden of Fred, Texas, in Tyler County. Roden was an honors student at Lamar University in Beaumont and was attending a ministries camp at the time of his death. According to reports, people were swimming in a cove off the south end of Toledo Bend, behind Ridgecrest Drive. That location is 1.75 miles west of the Toledo Bend Dam. Roden was swimming toward a floating dock, went underwater and never resurfaced.

Crews of emergency first responders, the Texas Park and Wildlife wardens, and local volunteers began searching for the body Saturday, staying out until 9 p.m. They resumed the search Sunday at 8 a.m. Sheriff Burby reported the body was recovered at 9:25 a.m. Sunday.

Toledo Bend is one of the largest lakes in the US. There have been several drownings on the Bend in 2024. Please use caution when in or on the water at Toledo Bend.