A month after Brandon Pack went underwater in a Winsted lake and never resurfaced, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has classified his death an accident. The 31-year-old Bloomfield man was pulled from Secret Lake in Algonquin State Forest on Sept. 16, closing out weeks of uncertainty for a case that began with little more than a frantic call about a person in the water.
How the Search Unfolded That Evening
According to CT Insider, emergency personnel responded after a report of a person seen going underwater in the Winsted section of Secret Lake, a call that the Winsted Fire Department fielded that evening. Crews from Winsted and Winchester converged on the scene and located Pack's body later that night, with firefighters wading into the lake wearing yellow immersion suits before bringing him to shore. A paramedic at the scene pronounced him deceased.
Accounts of the exact timeline vary. WFSB reported that the Winchester Fire Department and police responded to Secret Lake around 7:10 p.m. that Wednesday, while a release distributed through einpresswire.com stated that DEEP Environmental Conservation Police responded to a Litchfield County Dispatch report at approximately 7:30 p.m. WFSB reported that Winchester Police and the Winchester Fire Department responded; the DEEP release also mentions EMS personnel. The same release notes the individual was recovered by the Winchester Fire Department at approximately 8 p.m. and pronounced deceased by a paramedic.
A Coordinated Response in the State Forest
The rescue effort described by WFSB involved police and firefighters launching a coordinated search, with firefighters entering the lake in immersion suits before finding Pack and bringing him to shore using a stokes basket. He was pronounced dead at the scene. In the immediate aftermath, Connecticut DEEP Environmental Conservation Police were investigating the death, and officials said at the time that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner would determine the cause and manner of death.
That determination has now arrived. Per the same CT Insider report, the medical examiner classified Pack's death as an accident, closing the gap left by the earlier pending status.
Part of a Broader Pattern in Connecticut Waters
Pack's death adds to a grim tally across the state. State medical examiner data cited by CT Insider in its separate reporting on Connecticut drowning deaths shows 48 people have drowned in the state since March 2021, including 10 in 2021, 9 in 2022, 12 in 2023 and 13 in 2024. Those annual figures ranged from 9 to 13 deaths.
For Winsted and the surrounding Algonquin State Forest community, the medical examiner has ruled Pack's death accidental, even as the full details behind what preceded Pack going underwater remain known only to investigators.
