According to the witness statement and evidence gathered, two males where fishing on Smith Lake.  The operator of the boat heard a splash, went to the back of the boat to look for Victim in the water and he was not there.  Only Victim's hat was floating on the water.  The operator then retrieved his flashlight to look for Victim but did not find him.  The operator then called Winston County 911.  Upon arrival Operator (vessel operator) was still searching the area where Victim fell off the boat. Upon inspection of the boat, all required safety equipment was onboard the vessel. No signs of anything illegal were found on said vessel.  A dive buoy was placed to mark the closest spot provided by the witness.  After searching the area and interviewing the operator, the decision was to make this accident a recovery task the next morning.  Members of the Smith Lake Task Force were organized and dispatched to the scene.  Divers located and retrieved the drowning victim at approximately 10:30 A.M..  The victim was wearing a t-shirt, blue jeans, and cowboy boots upon retrieval.  Victim was put into a mesh holding bag and placed in the Smith Lake Task Force flat bottom boat for transporting to the closest community boat launch.  Upon arrival at the Wilson Bend community boat launch the deceased victim was turned over to the Winston County Coroner.  Autopsy was performed on diseased victim.  Preliminary autopsy report showed that the victim drowned.
Arley                         