On 3/18/12 at approximately 11:00am, a fatal boating accident was discovered on lake norman near lake campus drive in mooresville by a mother and her son while kayaking in the area.  The vessel was a 21 foot 2008 chaparral cabin cruiser with an inboard-outdrive motor.  The boat had a starboard side console, and was owned and being operated by victim.  There were no other passengers aboard the vessel.  It appears that operator fell from his boat while fishing and struck his forehead rendering him unconscious which resulted in drowning.

Subject and her son were kayaking in the area when they saw something floating in the water approximately 20 yards from the shoreline.  They approached the unknown object and discovered the victim's body floating face down.  They did not have a cell phone and paddled into deeper water to wave down a passing boater for help.  Some unidentified recreational boaters on a pontoon boat called 911 at 11:47am.  The iredell county sheriff's office responded and with the assistance of a mount mourne first responder.  They were able to recover the body from the shoreline.  The victim had a small cut on the bridge of his nose between the eyes and his lips and cheeks were blue.  The medical examiner of piedmont pathology pronounced the victim's death on-site.

The motor was not running and the boat was drifting as the victim was apparently fishing from the stern.  Two fishing rods were located within the main passenger area of the boat along with minnow bait buckets and a small closed tackle box.  A lighter and electronic smoking device (used in smoking marijuana) was also found lying in the open floorboard of the boat.  The stern of the boat was a flat platform with no railing or gunwales.  A larger tackle box was standing closed on a rear seat on the starboard side that faced the platform area.  A large cooler was tied to the starboard side of the platform and contained one striped bass.  A beach towel was lying on the port side of the platform in front of a step that led into the passenger area of the boat, which could have caused his fall.  Another fishing rod was found floating in the water approximately 30 yards from where the victim's body was located.  The fishing line was stuck on the bottom of the lake.

During the autopsy at wake forest baptist medical center in winston salem, the medical examiner pointed out that the victim had a very distinct bruise on the skull plate.  The bruise appeared to be about 1 inch wide and approximately 4 inches long.  We are awaiting the official results of the autopsy along with a toxicology report from the chief medical examiner's office in chapel hill which would take 3 to 6 months.  (note:  an addendum will follow in the event that any new or pertinent information becomes available as a result of the chief medical examiner's report or the toxicology report.)

It appears as though the victim was fishing and possibly struggled to get his line unstuck from the bottom of the lake.  He apparently fell from the back of his boat and struck his forehead' rendering him unconscious which resulted in a drowning.  It could not be determined what caused him to fall or what his head struck.

MOORESVILLE                   