Operator and passenger/victim were fishing from V1.  At approx. 8:30pm they started to troll back to the boat ramp and operator stated he saw the victim drop his head like he had passed out.  Operator said he had just started to ask victim if he was alright when he slumped over and fell out of V1 on the port side.  The water in this pit is very clear and operator stated that as V1 went by the victim, he noticed he was floating just under the water with his back up and never attempted to swim and never appeared to be conscious.  Operator immediately jumped into the water and grabbed the victim before he could sink.  He stated he had left the trolling motor on and had to swim to V1 and was having trouble hanging onto the victim's body because of his physical size.  When he was able to reach V1, he was unable to lift the victim into V1 so he tied his body to V1 and used the trolling motor to return to the boat ramp.  Operator stated it took almost an hour to troll back to the ramp.  Once at the ramp, he called 911 for an ambulance.  Medical personnel attempted to revive the victim without success.  

Upon interview the operator stated he had witnessed the victim pass out several times in the past but wasn't aware of any medical problems or any medication he may have been on.  The victim's mother also confirmed that the victim had been passing out a lot the past few weeks.  

I delayed entering this report due to the fact we were waiting for the ME's report because all indications pointed to a medical condition.  The autopsy report still is not available, our Crime Lab can take as long as 6 months to finalize and release reports.  However, a request was sent to the ME asking simply for cause of death and he reported his determination to be drowing as the cause of death.  *We won't know if victim was on any drugs or medication until the autopsy report is released.
CABOT                         