A 30-year-old man drowned at the beach of the Roanoke Rapids Lake Park this evening, Roanoke Rapids police said.

Sergeant M.E. Moseley said police received the call shortly after 6 p.m.

They learned the man, whose name is currently being withheld, was out with family and friends at the park, which is located off Oakwood Avenue.

The man was swimming and went under, Moseley said.

Roanoke Rapids firefighters, working with Roanoke Valley Rescue Squad members, retrieved the man's body in about 10 feet of water shortly before 7 p.m. He was found about 25 yards from the beach.

Witnesses who tried to help the man said he had swam out to the warning buoys in the lake and was returning when he went under. They went under the water but could not locate the man.