Victim's Family Says Lake Minnetonka Drowning Was Preventable
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The family of a mother who drowned in Lake Minnetonka over the weekend calls it an accident that could have been prevented. Thirty-five-year-old Nitaya Keodouangdy was partying on a pontoon with friends Saturday night. She fell in to Crystal Bay. Hennepin County Sheriff's Deputies recovered her body early Sunday morning.
"My mom, she was always enjoyable to be around. She loved her three kids a lot," son 16-year-old Justin Inthisith said.
Keodouangdy's death weighs on her oldest son.
"I'm going to miss that about her, not coming home and hearing her voice. It's going to be hard for my little brother and my sister too so I've got to be like the mom for them," Inthisith said.
Nitaya was celebrating an early birthday with friends on Lake Minnetonka. She somehow ended up in the water, and never resurfaced.
"The liquor and the water don't go together. If I was there I would try my best, I would try to save my sister," brother Khiao Keodouangdy said.
Khiao said his sister couldn't swim, and doesn't know what she was doing on the water without a life jacket. He wants other families to learn from his pain.
"You think that you're a good swimmer, I want them to always have a life jacket on them, all the time. It would save a lot a lot of lives out there," Khiao Keodouangdy said.
Keeping with their culture, family and friends will celebrate Nitaya Keodouangdy's life until her funeral.
"I would like to tell my sister that I miss her and I love her," Khiao Keodouangdy said.
A Go Fund Me account has been set up to help with funeral costs. Click here to learn more.