RedactedNarrative: On october 9, 2017, i received a call of a possible missing boater at shearon harris lake, new hill nc.  At approximately 01:30 pm, two witnesses said they were fishing and observed a man, fishing alone in a 19 foot pontoon boat that was tied off to a powerline pylon.  
  
  The two men continued to their fishing location adjacent to victim to check the jugs they previously put out.  Sometime later, they said they heard what sounded like someone shout.  They looked around but did not see anyone and continued to fish.  Approximately 30 minutes later they moved from their fishing location and observed victim's vessel that had been tied up to the powerline pylon now adrift in the lake with no person visibly on board.  They pulled alongside the vessel and saw that no one was on board.  They stated that the outboard motor was running and the throttle was in neutral.  They dropped an anchor to hold the boat there and contacted authorities.  
  
  Nc wildlife law enforcement officers along with holly springs and apex fire departments, wake sherriff deputies, chatham sheriff deputies, a sert team, and shp all responded to the scene.  We had two marked wildlife enforcement boats with officers searching the surface, the shoreline, and providing scene perimeter security.  Wake so and chatham so also provided one boat each.  The fire departments had search boats in the area and with the sert team used sonar to search under water.  I boarded victim's vessel and took photos and video of the inside of the vessel.  No identification was located.  
  
  There were fishing rods, a bucket of fish (crappies), and a bucket of minnows present.  The boat, a 2005 godfrey hurricane deck boat.  A call was made to victim's residence and his wife confirmed that the vessel belonged to him and that he often fished harris lake.  She arrived at the boat ramp a short time later.  Officers met with her at the ramp and explained what was going on.  
  
  They found out from a co-worker that he had called in to be off from work and had gone fishing instead.  The perimeter on the water was maintained and further sonar search continued and the search was called off at 22:00 with a plan to begin again the next morning at 08:00.  We resumed the search the following morning and divers recovered victim around 12:00 that day. 
   
  There was no pfd found on victim.  There were seven pfds on the vessel.  At this point, we are unsure of how or why victim ended up in the water.  From the information gathered, it appears his vessel was tied up to a pylon and he was fishing alone.  A firefighter had removed part of a rope from the powerline pylon out on the water before i arrived to the scene.  We noted that that piece of rope matched the rope that was also tied to the bow and stern of the deck boat. The rope was severed.  
  
  At some point, he went overboard and his vessel was found by witnesses drifting east about 600 yards from the pylon. Since his vessel was found running with it in neutral, it is possible that victim cranked his vessel to leave the spot and when he went to untie, the rope broke and he fell overboard.  With moderate wind and choppy water, it is possible that the vessel started drifting and victim tried to swim back to the vessel, which would explain why he was found approximately 21 feet away from the anchored location. 
  
  Additionally his wife stated that her husband had recently been seen by a doctor for muscle cramping issues involving his upper body. Victim's body was located approximately 15 feet from the shoreline and 21 feet beyond the pylon where his vessel had been tied.  
  
  No charges were filed and exact cause of death is still to be determined. No alcohol appears to be involved.  The required safety gear was onboard but unfortunately not being used..
  
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  Report will be updated at a later date once further information is received.
  