ST. LOUIS – The fish are gone, and a sinkhole is being blamed for the empty Benton Park Lake. Where did the water go, and the fish that swam in it? The City of St. Louis and the Missouri Department of Conservation are working together to sort it all out.

“Benton Park Lake, unfortunately, has an issue with a cave nearby, which is a sinkhole that is drawing water out of the lake,” Dan Zarlenga, Missouri Department of Conservation, said. “It’s hard to keep water in the lake. As long as this issue happens, it’s hard to keep water in the lake and fish in the water, because the fish need the water.”

Zarlenga says the conservation department issued a fish salvage order.

“Which means, we’re basically suspending all fishing regulations on that particular lake in order to get the fish removed bef

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