South County Independent

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — A retired U.S. Navy SEAL from Narragansett drowned in Tucker Pond off Tuckertown Road Friday while he was swimming with his dog.

John Collins, 65, 46 Houston Ave., Narragansett, was swimming with his wife, Vickie Hyatt Collins and their dog, around noon, a police report stated, when she came out of the water to eat lunch. Mrs. Collins told rescue personnel their six-month-old Labrador retriever was in and out of the water, and she could see her husband swimming one minute and disappearing the next, but since he was a strong swimmer, she did not think he was in trouble.

But when she spotted his head sticking up above the water, she took the boogie board out to check on him and found that he was unresponsive. Mrs. Collins said she could not pull him out of the water on her own, so she returned to shore and called for a rescue at 12:54 p.m.

A local volunteer firefighter, Tony Cinquegrana Jr., an employee of South Kingstown Parks and Recreation Department, was working at Tuckertown Park, which abuts the pond, when he heard the call on the emergency services radio. He was the first to arrive at the scene, dove into the water, and pulled the man to shore, the report stated.

Fire and rescue arrived and took Collins to South County Hospital in Wakefield, where he was pronounced dead. It could not be determined by press time if the case will be reviewed by the state Medical Examiners Office.

Collins is survived by his wife, two children and four grandchildren.

Reader Comments

The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of scindependent.com.

Steven Collins wrote on Aug 7, 2008 1:31 PM:

" This is a tragic story and my sympathy and prayers to the family. I am a retired SEAL Master Chief and in looking at our records, I cannot find a UDT/SEAL member whose name would fit this man's age. We have a couple John and Johnathan's that would be in their 30' and 40's. If someone has more information and can tell me when he went through training or what years he was in the Navy I'd appreciate it as the SEAL community always likes to know when we have lost one of our own.

Sincerely,

Steven Collins, GMCM (SEAL) Ret.
director@blackicesecurity.com "

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