Update: Boy drowns after fall through ice at Taconic State Park

Updated: Feb. 11, 9:35 p.m.

Correction:  An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the boy saved the girl by pushing her onto safe ice. 

MILLERTON – A Webutuck High School senior drowned on Friday, Feb. 10, at the Iron Mine Pond area off Shagroy Road in Taconic State Park after he and a friend fell  through the ice, according to the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office.  

Noah Thompson, 17, of Amenia, was at the pond with a friend, according to his mother, Dayna Cook of Amenia. 

The incident occurred at approximately 2:50 p.m. 

According to the Sheriff’s Office, the two teenagers had walked approximately 20-30 feet from the grassy shore onto the ice when the ice broke, sending them both into the water. 

The girl, Emily Moustakas, 17, of LaGrange, who is a senior at Arlington High School, said they heard a loud crack while walking on the ice and then Noah fell in. Emily said she reached for him, but then fell in herself.  

After she managed to clamber back on the ice, and after some time holding onto to Noah, trying to keep him elevated, Noah ended up holding onto her leg. But after a while he let go of her.

“He was brave, and just couldn’t hold on,” Cook said. 

“It took all she had left to get out and back onto the top of the ice, running for her life to reach the cell phone,” the girl’s mother, Danielle Moustakas, said. “She is a hero and a brave one at that.”

Cook said she heard about the tragedy when a friend called after hearing all the fire calls. 

“Is Noah at home?” her friend asked. 

“That was his spot,” Cook said, knowing that he went up there a lot in the summertime.

Jason Watson, chief of the Northeast Fire District and Millerton Fire Company, said that the Millerton Fire Company was the first on the scene, arriving within five minutes, and requested additional resources. More than 100 firefighters and emergency personnel from numerous agencies in New York and Connecticut responded and were on the scene for more than three hours. 

The pond is located in Taconic State Park about a five-minute trail walk from Shagroy Road, which is off Rudd Pond Road. There is no road access to the site, requiring rescue personnel to walk in. The pond is a popular draw for area residents because of its remote, quiet setting. A sign posted on a tree on the way to the pond states “Keep Off the Ice.” 

Stephanie Thompson, of Champlain,  Noah’s aunt, and her sister, Jennifer Thompson of Wassaic, were visiting the site of the drowning on Saturday morning. 

“We wanted to see where it happened,” Stephanie said. “To see if there was still some of his spirit here.”

His aunts and his mother described Noah as someone with a gift to easily make people smile.

“He’s got a smile that’s infectious,” his mother said.

“He had the biggest, biggest heart,” Stephanie said. “And he was not just a kid who fell through the ice. He was a brother and a son and a grandson.” 

Noah was a baseball player who played in school leagues and in farm leagues, she said. 

His dream was to be an entrepreneur, his mother said. 

On Saturday, approximately 50 Webutuck High School students received counseling at the school. 

On Monday, it will be “all hands are on deck” for all the students, said Superintendent of Schools Raymond Castellani. 

“It’s going to be a tough few days,” he said.

Upon the arrival of DIVE Team and rescue personnel from numerous agencies, the victim was recovered and transported to Sharon Hospital in Connecticut, where he was later pronounced dead, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

“They worked on him for three hours at Sharon Hospital,” Stephanie Thompson said. “But he had been underwater too long.” 

Among agencies assisting the Sheriff’s Office were: the Dutchess County Department of Emergency Response; New York State Police; New York State Parks Police; New York State Parks; and numerous fire departments from Dutchess County, Columbia County, and Connecticut. Fire department units on the scene, besides those from Millerton, included: Town of North East Medic 1; Amenia; Wassaic; Pine Plains; Stanford; Millbrook; Union Vale; Dover; Copake; Ancram; Hillsdale; Craryville; Sharon; Lakeville; Canaan; and Sheffield, Massachusetts. 

In addition, DIVE Teams from the Sheriff’s Office and Goshen (Connecticut) Fire Department responded, as well as the Sheriff’s Office’s Patrol Bureau, Marine Patrol, Unmanned Aerial Systems Unit (drones), and Detective Bureau.

The Sheriff’s Office announcement reminded everyone to always use extreme caution when walking onto ice, especially during periods of fluctuating temperatures.

Iron Mine Pond area off Shagroy Road in Millerton was the scene of a drowning on Friday, Feb. 10. Photo by John Coston

Sign posted along the path to the pond. Photo by John Coston

  

Iron Mine Pond area off Shagroy Road in Millerton was the scene of a drowning on Friday, Feb. 10. Photo by John Coston