Updated at: 06/30/2009 1:57 PM

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Update on Pokegama Lake Drownings

The Itasca County Sheriff's Department says two people drowned on Pokegama Lake in a weather-related swimming accident.

The victims are 30-year-old Nathan Junker and 63-year-old Albert Hermiston. Both men are from Grand Rapids. The sheriff's office says the two men were close friends and had gathered with some church friends on Sunday.

Authorities said that weather likely caused the drownings. High winds created three foot waves on the lake on Sunday.

The men saw that a group of youth in the water were getting too close to a dangerous drop off area. They went out to bring them in. One of them gave a child a life jacket. Authorities said that it's likely that was a life-saving move.

The group of kids got to safety, but the two men were overtaken by waves.

The 9-1-1 call came in around 5:30pm on Sunday. The report was that Hermiston was floating in the water, and Junker was missing.

Hermiston was brought into shore by boat, to the docks at nearby Zorbaz on the Lake. Over a dozen people ran to help hold the boat, while he was lifted onto a stretcher.

An off-duty firefighter performed CPR, and Hermiston was brought to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Junker's body was not found until 8 p.m. on Monday night. About twenty people used boats, sonar, and an underwater camera to look for him. But the cloudy skies, high winds, and rain made the continued search difficult.