Drowning victims recovered Wednesday

Published 4:17 pm Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Officials have recovered the bodies of two men who drowned at Mitchell Dam late Tuesday night, according to officials.

A boat with three occupants was taking on water and sank about midnight. A 63-year-old male, who couldn’t swim, and a 32-year-old male drowned on the Lake Jordan side of the dam, according to Walter Lacey, Marine Police officer.

The surviving boater, a 14-year-old male, told officials he was given the boat’s lone personal flotation device and was able to latch onto a piece of concrete in the river until other boaters found him at about 6 a.m. Wednesday and called authorities.

The boaters’ names have not been released because family members have not been notified. Chilton County Sheriff Kevin Davis said the 63-year-old was from Montgomery, while the other two men, a father and son, were from Marbury.

“From what we can gather, the boat was taking on water,” Lacey said. “It didn’t have anything to do with the dam. It swamped and went under.”

Jan Ellis, spokeswoman for Alabama Power, confirmed that the dam had not been generating power Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Lacey said darkness likely played a role in the men not being able to find their way to shore.

The older victim was recovered from the water at 10:38 a.m. Wednesday by the Chilton County Sheriff’s Department dive team. The second victim was recovered at 12:08 p.m. Wednesday with help from the regional dive team.