Drowning dad to daughter: 'Save yourself'

WAYNESVILLE, Ohio — A drowning man pushed away his daughter, who tried to save him as they were being pulled underwater, telling her to save herself, authorities said.

Robert Stegemoller, 47, of Maineville, Ohio, was picnicking Sunday with his family at Caesar Creek Lake near Waynesville when he saw that their boat was adrift. He swam out to try to retrieve it, and his 19-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, heard his screams for help, said Scott Hines of the Massie Township Fire Department.

She swam to him but could not save him, Hines said. He was lost in the lake, which was low because crews are building a marina, around 4:30 p.m.; his body was found about four hours later.

The lake, about 45 miles northwest of Cincinnati, has sudden and steep drop-offs that catch swimmers off guard about 7 or 8 feet in, Hines said.

The Warren County Coroner ruled that cardiac distress could be a contributing factor in Stegemoller's death. The lake's cold temperature paired with his struggling could have put pressure on his heart.

The coroner's investigation is continuing.

Stegemoller was girls golf coach at Little Miami High School and had been a corrections officer at the Warren Correctional Institution in Turtle Creek Township as recently as 2014.

"He was so dedicated to all of his players and parents," Lisa Rose Gilpin wrote on the Facebook page of the Little Miami Schools school district.