On March 19, 2010 at approximately 2:00 PM the drowning victim  and passenger were at Lake Aquilla fishing in the Aquilla Creek area of Lake Aquilla.  The two men decided to move.  Upon leaving the area and getting on "plane" the boat capsized somewhere north of "Rattle Snake Island".  The surviving witness denied hitting anything. He could only describe riding and the next thing he remembered was being in the water and the boat being capsized.   The driver and passenger clung to the capsized boat for several hours.  In the beginning the boat drifted with the wind back in a southward direction toward the shore at the mouth of the Aquilla creek area of the lake.  The boat eventually stopped drifting as it became lodged on a tree stump.  The drowning victim tried sevaral times to swim beneath the boat and free PFD's from a compartment in the boat. Fearing the worst and being extremely cold the drowning victim attempted to get to shore for help.   The surviving witness advised he swam on his back and turned over to begin dog paddling.  He submerged and did not re-surface just south of the capsized vessel at approximately 50 feet.  The surviving witness was rescued by a passing boater within 20 minutes of the victim's submersion.  The witness was taken to Lake Whitney Medical Center where he was treated for symptoms of hypothermia.  
Rescue Divers and Texas Game Warden and I searched the area for any evidence that the drowning victim made to shore.  Within an hour we began to utilize sonar equipment near the capsized vessel in order to locate a body.  Rescue divers cleared the vessel to insure that the victim was not trapped under the vessel.  
Warden and I secured the vessel by rope to a nearby tree in case the vessel dislodged from the stump.
At approximately 9:30 PM using side imaging sonar we viewed an anomalie near the vessel within the search area described by the witness,. We belived the anomalie to be the drowning victim.  Due to darkness we were unable to have divers investigate the anomalie.
For the next two days a strong north wind and extreme drop in temperature hampered attempts to further search for the victim.
On Monday March 22, with the assistance of the US Army Corp of Engineers' winch boat the capsized vessel was dislodged from the stump and towed to a nearby boat ramp where it was recovered and placed on it's trailer.  Photographs were taken.  There were no clear impact spots or clear damage cause during the capsizing.  There were several scratches on the moter and corners of the vessel that appeared to be caused during towing and loading.  The throttle lever was observed to be at half throttle position.  
Region II District 3 Wardens attempted to use body dragging hooks to catch the victim in the area where the anomalie was located and the witness described the victim to be.  Several large tree limbs were removed from the area and the anomalie remained in the area.  
Divers attempted to dive where the anomalie was located.  They were forced to re-surface quickly due to cold water temperatures at the bottom of the lake.  Recovery efforts were again called off, due to darkness.
On Tuesday March 23rd in the Am Region 2 District 3 Wardens were preparing and marking the are where the anomalie was located, in preperation for cold water divers from Texas DPS to arrive and investigate the anomalie.  While marking the area Warden began to pitch a small drag hook where the anomalie was located.  On his second pitch he pulled the victim to the surface.  The victim was transported to the Culp boat ramp and turned over to Hill County SO investigators.

Based on the lack of physical evidence and the lack of memory from the surviving party to the event no determination could be made as to the cause of the accident.

Whitney                       