Man drowns at Creek Falls in Westmoreland County

SOUTH HUNTINGDON, Pa. — A drowning victim was found at Creek Falls in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania State Police say.

DeOnte Johns, 23, was found during a search on Sunday in South Huntingdon on Jacobs Creek.

Johns was from Penn Hills and state police say the drowning was accidental.

Firefighters from Turkeytown, Collinsburg and Murrysville gathered at a staging area off Chaintown Road to begin the search.

It was Saturday night just before 6 p.m. when the initial call came in. Dispatchers told our partners at the Trib that someone called 911 and reported seeing a male jump into the water but never resurfaced.

Rescue and dive teams responded and found nothing. They called off the search until Sunday morning.

This is a remote location on the border of West­moreland and Fayette counties near Scottdale. Rescue and dive teams have to go two miles into the woods to get to Creek Falls

Firefighters tell Channel 11 that Creek Falls is a popular swimming spot, but it shouldn’t be. The water is dangerous because of the strong current and undertow.

In the past several years, there have been other accidental drowning deaths, including 15-year-old NaDarrius Lundy of McKeesport in May 2020, 21-year-old Dylan Knopsnider of Connellsville in June 2018 and 22-year-old Joseph Gralew­ski of Yukon in late May 2011.

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