TIVERTON — The 38-year-old Rehoboth man who fell into Stafford Pond early last month died of a heart attack.

Joseph Traficante died of a coronary artery blockage stemming from hardening of the arteries, or atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, according to a spokeswoman for Rhode Island’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Thomas P. Gilson.

Traficante had been on Stafford Pond fishing with his girlfriend on Sunday, Aug. 3, when a violent rainstorm blew in unexpectedly from the north.

While Traficante and his fiancée, Brandi Hurst, were heading back to the dock, Traficante ended up in the water. At the time, investigators could not say why.

Hurst called for rescue when Traficante did not emerge.

She then donned a life vest and jumped into the water herself to look for him.

One of the firefighters who responded to the initial call for a search, 52-year-old Gerald Leduc, also died when he suffered a heart attack after diving into the water.

Leduc, a certified diver, had been on his day off when he responded to the call.

While many Rhode Island communities did not get much of the storm that blew in that day, Fire Chief Robert Lloyd recalled that the rain was so bad in neighboring Fall River that motorists pulled off Route 195 and stopped their cars because they could not see through their windshields.

Traficante’s body was recovered two days later, on Aug. 5, in 20 feet of water in the area where he fell in, about 100 to 125 yards off the west shore of the pond.