Decorated Mass. Cop Drowns In Merrimack River

Officer Charles Panek, 30, told his companions he was jumping out of the boat and they should come back later to pick him up. When the boat circled back, he did not resurface.

A Lowell (Mass.) Police officer drowned in the Merrimack River on Saturday evening, while boating with his brother and another friend.

Officer Charles Panek, 30, told his companions he was jumping out of the boat and they should come back later to pick him up. When the boat circled back, he did not resurface.

Officer Panek was a decorated police officer and former Marine. He had been on the police force since 2006. He had served in the Rhode Island Army National Guard and was scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan.

Source: Boston Globe

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