A 19-year-old Rhea County woman’s body was recovered from Watts Bar Lake on Monday night, one of two drownings in Tennessee over the Memorial Day weekend holiday.
Rescuers started searching the waters for Madison “Maddie” Taylor once they got the call around 6:30 p.m. Monday, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency spokesperson Mime Barnes said in a news release.
Taylor entered the water from a boat to swim and did not resurface, Barnes said. Taylor was a standout athlete at Rhea County High School, playing on the school’s basketball team and other sports.
Officers from TWRA, Rhea County Sheriff’s Office, Rhea County rescue squad, Meigs County rescue squad and dive teams from Bradley County and Hamilton County searched in 40 to 50 feet of water above the Watts Bar Dam, she said.
Taylor’s body was located using a remote-operated vehicle after the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office underwater recovery team located a point of interest on the lake bottom with sonar equipment towed behind a vessel used in the search. Taylor’s body was transported to the Rhea County Medical Examiner’s Office, authorities said.