RedactedNarrative: On 10/06/2022 at approximately 1319 hours Tennessee Wildlife Officers responded to a call of a missing boater. At 1322 Wildlife Officers learned the call was upgraded to a deceased party floating in the water. Once officers arrived on scene, a patrol vessel was used to drive across the cove to where an unoccupied pontoon vessel was tied up to a small island. A couple hundred feet away in approximately 1.5 feet of water was a deceased, floating male that was face down in the water without wearing a personal flotation device. 
  
  Once the recovery of the deceased was made and transported to the county morgue, officers began to inventory the vessel. The pontoon vessel was inventoried and there were two dogs, a cell phone at the drivers helm and an empty bottle of wine at the drivers helm. The vessel was towed across the cove to the deceased’s residence. 
  
  Once officers were able to interview the reporting party and neighbors, it was learned that at approximately 0930hrs a tree worker arrived at the residence to remove some trees in the yard when he observed a vessel floating in the river channel. 
  
  He did not notice any occupants on board and the vessel continued to float. A separate witness after hearing of the unoccupied vessel got on board a personal watercraft and went to look at it. Once the operator on the PWC arrived at the vessel he noticed that the motor was still running, and the gear shifter was also in the neutral position. 
  
  He noticed that there were no people on board however there were two dogs on board the vessel. He then towed the vessel over to an island and after tying the vessel up, he noticed the owner of the vessel floating facedown. 
  
  Officers also interviewed a neighbor who stated that she had heard at approximately 0000 Hrs. on 10/06/2022 dogs barking that was coming from the water. She had stated that this was not normal for the area so she got a flashlight to look to see if she could see anything. After not seeing anything and the dogs no longer barking, she let the situation be. This incident occurred on Watts Bar Lake in Rhea County.