On the afternoon of June 6, 2011, three subjects, three people entered private property west of Hwy 34 in the town of Eros, in Jackson Parish.   They did not have permission to be on this property.  They entered this property to access a pond in which to swim.  All three subjects got into a 12 Brewster aluminum boat (no motor or trolling motor) and paddled into the pond.  At approximately 2 - 4 PM the boat either overturned or began to take on water (conflicting statements from survivors) and all three subjects went into the water.  It was apparent at this time that Victim could not swim, so Subject1 tried to save him.  He grabbed Victim and tried to swim with him, but due to Victim trying to pull him under, he finally got away and swam to the bank.  Victim went underwater approximately 30 feet from the bank.  After Victim went under, both Subject2 and Subject1 walked to Subject2's residence, where Subject2 changed into dry clothes.  Subject2's dad was at home, but neither he nor Subject1 said anything about Victim drowning in the pond.  After changing clothes, Subject2 and Subject1 walked to the Subject1 residence (between 4:15 - 4:30 pm) where Subject1 changed clothes and the two began watching TV.  

At this point, neither had told anybody about the drowning nor had they contacted the Jackson Parish Sheriffs Office (JPSO).  At approximately 6 pm, the mother of Subject1 arrived and told Subject2 that he needed to go home because they were going to a birthday party.  Subject2 left the subject1 residence  between 6 - 6:15.  Mother and son then left for the party at approximately 6:30pm.   Subject1 

still did not say anything about the drowning to his mother.   At approximately 6:54 pm, a 911 call was received at JPSO from Subject2 residence concerning the possible drowning.  JPSO deputies and volunteer firemen arrived at the pond.  Upon arrival, they met with Subject2 and his dad.  Subject2 was in the pond looking for Victim.  

Agents launched a boat and recovered the body of Victim approximately 30 feet from the bank at  8:50pm.  Victim's body was located on the southwest corner of the pond, the overturned boat was located on the northeast corner of the pond.  Victim's body was removed from the pond and he was pronounced dead at approximately 9:00pm,  by Jackson Parish coroner.  The body of Victim was sent to Little Rock, Arkansas for an autopsy.  I seized the boat and transported it to the Region 2 office in Monore.  The boat displayed no registration numbers nor did it have a hull ID number.  The owner of the pond of Chatham stated that the boat did not belong to her or her immediate family, and did not know who owned the boat.  

During the investigation, the primary cause (1) of the accident was overloading of the small 12' boat  (older,  thin aluminum boat with very little free board)  with three people. The secondary cause (2) was all three began rocking the boat from side to side causing it to take on water (conflicting statements among survivors) and eventually capsize. The tertiary (3) cause was improper loading of the boat by having one person sitting on the bow of the boat, causing it to sit low in the water to the point that it began to take on water.

The autopsy report was freshwater drowning.  The autopsy report is also included in this report.

Eros                          