Victim arrived at the lake wheeler boat house at 7:20am and was dropped off by a friend.  The boat was unloaded and launched by 7:40am.  The vessel was powered by a small electric trolling motor mounted to the stern of the 10 foot jon boat.  Another fisherman had seen victim on the south side of the lake heading toward the penny road bridge.  Due to windy conditions, i believe victim trolled to the south side of the lake to avoid some wind as he made his way to the penny road bridge.

Approximately one hour had passed and victim was seen on the boat close to the bridge by two passing motorists heading north on penny rd.  The same two motorists, approximately 15 minutes later,  were headed back south on penny road.  As they crossed the bridge, victim was not onboard the overturned boat.  They searched for victim for a few moments and then drove to the lake wheeler boat house to notify park officials.  Park officials called 911 for assistance and sent a boat to investigate.  Victim was not located at this time.

Search and rescue teams arrived and began their search.  I arrived and gave assistance until 2:30pm.  Victim's body was located approximately 45 yards from the bridge to the east at 3:00pm.  The body was sent to the medical examiner for determination of cause of death.

RALEIGH                       