Pocono News Section

Man Found Dead in Dunmore Backyard Pool

Man Found Dead in Dunmore Backyard Pool - Monday, July 21, 2008 at 5:09PM EST

Reported by: Eric Deabill
Monday, Jul 21, 2008 @ 05:09pm EST
DUNMORE, LACKAWANNA COUNTY- State and Dunmore police spent hours in an alley behind 216 Oak Street Monday afternoon. They are looking into how 26-year-old Brian Ives died. His body was found at the bottom of a backyard swimming pool by a neighbor late Monday morning.

Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Mark Lavelle said, “We don't know if there's any foul play at all at this time. This could be an accidental drowning, or if there's more, that's what we're looking into now to be on the safe side."

Until an autopsy is done, Ives' death is being treated as suspicious, although his body showed nothing unusual. “There's no physical injuries on him that we could see. We have to wait for an autopsy for all that," said Lavelle.

Bill Clement lives right across the street. He didn't know Ives but says the tragic news is shocking. “A State Police trooper was here and he was talking to me. I asked him, are we in any danger and he said definitely not."

Other neighbors like Albert DeNunzio says the man who owns the home, John Mitchell, is known for throwing pool parties in the summer. There was one at the house on Sunday. “There were five or six people there -- that's all I know… When it rained, I guess they all went home."

Other neighbors say it’s unusual to see something like this in this quiet niche of Dunmore. Carmella Keating said, “They never bothered nobody. They didn't make that much noise. I never heard them."

Right now, investigators don't know exactly how long the body of Brian Ives was in the backyard pool. An autopsy is planned for the near future at Moses Taylor Hospital in Scranton.