A man who drowned Friday in Lake Wissota apparently committed suicide just hours after law enforcement officers arrested him and found photos of nude girls during a search of his house, according to the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram.
Daniel P. Weggel, 32, of Washington was an assistant high school boys swimming coach in the Eau Claire school district.
Eau Claire County sheriff's deputies seized computers and other electronics, which authorities say show Weggel hid cameras in his home, the girls' homes and other locations to secretly record them.
Weggel, found with cinder blocks tied to his legs, left a suicide note, officials said. ..Source.. by Ashley Luthern
Nude girls’ images found on drowning victim’s computer
In the confiscated computer files belonging to a 32-year-old town of Washington man who drowned Friday in Lake Wissota, authorities found images of nude underage girls among the numerous photos that appeared to have been captured without the girls’ knowledge.
Daniel P. Weggel, a private piano instructor and a high school assistant boys swimming coach in the Eau Claire school district, apparently committed suicide.
Weggel’s drowning came the day after the Eau Claire County sheriff’s office arrested him on charges of invasion of privacy and hours after deputies seized computers, thumb drives and other electronic equipment.
The number of victims in the case is still unknown, Sheriff Ron Cramer said.
“We have a lot of data to go through,” Cramer said Monday.
Cramer said the evidence seized shows Weggel hid cameras in his home, in the homes of his victims and in other places in order to secretly capture images of the underage girls.
Some of the images include girls in “compromised” positions, Cramer said, including nudity. He said the investigation began when a girl found a camera hidden in her room that appeared to belong to Weggel.
The sheriff’s office is working to identify all the victims in the case and determine whether Weggel shared the photos with anyone else. Cramer said his office is working hard to make sure the victims aren’t further victimized.
“Right now, what the investigation is about is finding the victims and notifying their parents,” he said.
Weggel had worked as an assistant boys swimming coach for the North/Memorial swim and dive team since 2007, said Memorial principal Dave Oldenberg.
Oldenberg said Weggel, a Memorial graduate, was popular among students. Oldenberg said Monday that he was aware of Weggel’s death and had heard there were allegations against him.
Oldenberg said counseling will be made available to students.
“That’s what we always do, and with this I suspect there’s going to be more students who use it,” he said.
Weggel was not a teacher and did not have a previous arrest record.
Divers recovered Weggel’s body at about 5 p.m. Friday in Lake Wissota, east of Chippewa Falls Rod & Gun Club in the Chippewa County town of Eagle Point, Sheriff Jim Kowalczyk said.
His office was alerted sometime after 2 p.m. of an unoccupied kayak anchored in the lake. Searchers used side-scan sonar to located the body.
Weggel had tied two cinder blocks to his legs to weigh him down, Kowalczyk said. A suicide note stated that his body would be near a kayak in the lake, the sheriff said.
Eau Claire County deputies searched Weggel’s residence at 4 a.m. Friday. ..Source.. by Jon Swedien
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