From the Steuben County Sheriff
May 15, 2023
Steuben County Sheriff Jim Allard reports that on May 12, 2023, at about 1:42pm, deputies and investigators responded to a report of 19 year old male drowning in Keuka Lake. The investigation revealed that a family visiting from Maryland, on a Keuka Lake vacation, were on a pontoon boat in Keuka Lake in the Town of Urbana, when the 19 year old son jumped into the lake to swim. The person was unable to swim back to the boat, and went underwater. The person was not wearing a personal flotation device.
The Steuben County Mobile Crisis Team responded to the scene to provide treatment and counseling to the family and witnesses. The Steuben County Sheriff’s Office Navigation Unit, working in partnership with the Navigation Units of the New York State Police; Livingston, Monroe and Yates County Sheriff’s Offices; Hammondsport, Pulteney, and Wayne Volunteer Fire Departments and Steuben County Emergency Management worked to locate the person for recovery. After searching the lake for approximately ten hours, searchers located the victim with sonar and successfully recovered him utilizing the Hammondsport Fire Department underwater drone. The deceased person is Ahmed Ayaz, age 19 of Old Frederick Road, Catonsville, Maryland.
Sheriff Allard thanks all the responding agencies for their cooperation and outstanding service. Our hearts go out to the Ayaz family and our thoughts and prayers are for their recovery from this tragedy.
