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PENGILLY, Minn. — A northern Minnesota man died in an apparent drowning earlier this week.

A 911 caller told dispatchers Monday morning that they saw an empty boat circling the northern end of Swan Lake, the Itasca County County Sheriff's Office reported Wednesday in a news release. Moments earlier, the caller said, they had seen the boat moving past them with a man and a dog inside.

Responding sheriff’s deputies secured the boat with the dog safely inside, but the man — James Kleffman, 52, of Pengilly — was still missing.

The county’s search and rescue team found Kleffman’s body at the bottom of the lake that evening. Kleffman, authorities said, had left his home around 8 a.m. to fish with his dog.

County staff told the News Tribune that it’s presently unclear how Kleffman ended up in the water. An autopsy is pending.