Yesterday, the body of 20-year-old Carlo Milito was pulled from a lake in Smallwood, in Sullivan County. Milito and two other friends from Brooklyn, cousins Domenico Coluccio, 19, and Anthony DuPont, 18, drowned after their boat capsized on Sunday. Sheriff Mike Schiff explained, "The temperature of the water, which was 48 or 49 degrees, gives an immediate shock to the system – to the lungs, muscles – you cramp and start to develop hypothermia very quickly. They were also wearing layered clothing which absorbs the water and that will weigh you down to the bottom."
A fourth person, Coluccio's and DuPont's cousin Gianfranco Generoso, 20, managed to swim to shore. The Post reports that Generoso "survived by stripping off his own thick layers" and that he called out to the others to do the same. Milito did wriggle out of his clothes, but probably cramped up while trying to swim to shore. The mother of one of the victim's girlfriend said Generoso kept saying, "Why me?" adding that the four had "been together since they were babies."
According to the NY Times, the four grew up together in Dyker Heights and "By the time they finished high school, they were working the cash registers and eating their meals in the popular Italian restaurants and markets run by their families" (Generoso and Dupont worked at Royal Crown Magnifico Panini, Coluccio at Coluccio & Sons). Also, Coluccio apparently didn't know how to swim (all four men were not wearing life jackets).
