Man dies trying to save woman who jumped in canal
SCHUYLER, N.Y. — Authorities say divers have recovered the body of a central New York man from an Erie Canal lock where he apparently drowned while trying to save his girlfriend’s cousin after the cousin jumped in to save a dog.
State police say troopers responded around 8 p.m. Wednesday to reports of two people in the water at Lock 19 in the Herkimer County town of Schuyler, 55 miles east of Syracuse.
Troopers say a woman had jumped into the canal to save a dog, then began struggling to stay afloat. The boyfriend of the woman’s cousin, 26-year-old George Grullon, of Utica, then jumped in to save her but didn’t resurface.
State police and Oneida County divers found his body late Wednesday night in 6 feet of water.
The woman survived and the dog was saved by troopers.