The body of a Whitwell, Tennessee, man has been recovered after he and two other men jumped from their sinking boat into Nickajack Lake Thursday night, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officials said Friday in a news release.
TWRA along with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Marion County Rescue Squad and Hamilton County Dive Team responded to a 2 a.m. CDT call reporting a sunken vessel and missing person, authorities said.
Ronnie D. Gholston, 24, was bow fishing with two other men around 10:30 p.m. CDT Thursday when their 15-foot Lowe fishing boat started to take on water, TWRA spokesperson Mime Barnes said in the release.
(READ MORE: Here’s how you can boat safely.)
“The three men jumped into the water to swim to shore. As they swam, two men in the group observed that Gholston was no longer communicating with them,” Barnes said. “The two men swam to an island near Bennett Lake Access where they waited, without cellphone communication. Around 2 a.m. they heard someone at the boat ramp and yelled for help. This passerby called 911.”