On April 8th the Moore County Water Rescue Task Force was requested by the Southern Pines Fire Department to respond for a possible drowning in a pond behind the Sandhills Community College Campus. Witnesses stated that they had come upon a small fishing boat partially submerged in the pond with no one around the boat or the boaters truck. Once law enforcement had verified that the boater was not at his house or had gotten back to shore the Water Rescue Task Force started conducting gridded searches in the last know area of the boat. Due to limited visibility in the water the Lee County Underwater Sonar was requested to assist with locating the victim. A drone and an underwater robot were also utilized but did not locate the victim. Due to night-fall the search was called off on Saturday and resumed Sunday morning at 7:00 a.m. Additional divers from Fort Bragg were utilized on Sunday in support of the of the Moore County Team. The victim was located Sunday morning around 9:45 a.m. and removed from the water. The victim has been sent for an autopsy at the N.C. Medical Examiners Office. Sandhills Community college Campus Police are conducting the investigation. Also responding were Southern Pines Police Department, Moore County EMS, Moore County Public Safety, Lee County Emergency Services and the American Red Cross.
