Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Search Continues at Walden Pond for Missing Swimmer

A 63-year-old Lincoln man reportedly hasn't been seen since telling his wife he was going to swim the length of Walden Pond.

Police and fire personnel continue to search Walden Pond for a 63-year-old Lincoln man who was reported missing Sunday evening after reportedly telling his wife he was going to attempt to swim across the pond. 

The pond is closed Monday morning, after the Department of Conservation and Recreation, which operates the pond as a state reservation, decided to keep swimmers and visitors from potentially interfering with the ongoing search.  

Posted 10:57 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29

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Emergency responders continue to scour Walden Pond Sunday night for a Lincoln man who was reported missing after attempting to swim across the pond. 

Boats from the Concord, Bedford and Lincoln fire departments, along with State Police divers and the Wing have been searching the 100-foot-deep kettle pond on the Concord-Lincoln line since earlier in the evening, but the fleet is thinning out as 11 p.m. approaches. 

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According to Concord Police Sgt. Jack Kennedy, the Concord Fire Department's boat will continue searching through the night for the 63-year-old man, who was reported missing a little before 7 p.m., but other units are being called off for the night. State Police divers will return at first light, Kennedy said. 

The missing man was wearing black swim trunks when he set out with two women two swim from the Walden Pond shores across the pond toward the Lincoln side, according to Kennedy. 

The two women, who were better swimmers than the man, went off ahead anticipating he would swim to a different point, and then became concerned when they returned to the beach and he never arrived, Kennedy said. 

Due to the ongoing search, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, which operates the beach at Walden Pond, is asking early morning swimmers not to come to the beach on Monday, Sept. 30, so as not to interfere with the search. 

Anyone with any information about the missing man should contact the Concord Police Department at 978-318-3400.

Original Post: 

Emergency responders are searching Walden Pond for a possible missing swimmer. 

According to State Police, the search is on for a 63-year-old Lincoln man who told his wife he was going to swim across the length of the pond and hasn't been seen since. 

At approximately 6:45 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 29, Concord Police relayed a report to Mass State Police of a possible missing swimmer at the Walden Pond state reservation. 

"Massachusetts State Police assets from the Air Wing, Dive Team, Troop A Headquarters and Troopers from the State Police Concord Barracks of Troop A were sent to begin the search," according to the press release. The Department of Conservation and Recreation as well as Concord Police and Fire are also on scene assisting with the search, the press release said. 

Situated in a state reservation, Walden Pond is a glacial kettle pond more than 100-feet deep at some points. The pond has also been designated as a National Historical Landmark, a title owed at least in part to the time Henry David Thoreau spend there in the mid-1800s and its prominence in his work.

Concord Patch will bring you more information on this story as it becomes available. 


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