SARATOGA — The man whose body was found Sunday in Saratoga Lake might have suffered a seizure before falling off a dock and drowning, state police said.
Troopers identified him Wednesday as Guy D. Simmons, 52, who was homeless but a native of Schenectady. They attributed his death to accidental drowning and not suicide, citing an autopsy performed Tuesday.
Interviews with neighbors and surveillance camera video placed Simmons walking by himself down the dock on Sunday, troopers said. He had a history of being treated and medicated for recurring seizures, which the doctor who conducted the autopsy speculated could have caused his death, Investigator Thomas Gibney said.
“Sometimes when you’re looking at the water with the light reflecting off of the water, that can cause a seizure to occur,” Gibney said. “Maybe he was sitting there and looking at the water and had a seizure and fell into the lake.”
Simmons’ body was recovered by troopers Sunday afternoon, after a homeowner on State Route 9P reported that a bicycle and some personal belongings had been left on his dock for an extended period of time, troopers said.
They found him on the bottom of the lake about 10 feet from the dock with “obvious signs of death,” troopers said in a prepared statement.
Simmons had a niece who lives and works in Schenectady, and he would often stay with her there, Gibney said. His only immediate family were two sisters who were from Schenectady but lived in Atlanta, Georgia.
“They were trying to get him to move down to Atlanta with them, but obviously that never occurred,” Gibney said.
Categories: -News-, Schenectady County
