By John Peters
Editor
Tragedy marred the Independence Day holiday week for one group of people when an area man drowned after apparently falling into Lake Gaston on Thursday, July 5.
Major Mike Casey with the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office said the man, Floyd Drew, died in what is being termed an accidental drowning that happened in the Myricks Estate Road area. He said Drew apparently fell off a private boat dock while trying to scoop something out of the water with a fishing net.
Casey said Drew regularly did yard work for the owner of the boat dock, whose name he did not release. He said the homeowner picked up Drew earlier in the day and took him to his home, where Drew began mowing the lawn. That was shortly after 9 a.m., Casey said.
The homeowner then left and when he returned home he found the yard partially mowed, with the mower sitting in the back yard not running. Casey said the homeowner found his boat house door open and then saw the fishing net floating in the water. After a quick search of the area, he called the sheriff’s office.
Casey said deputies arrived on the scene and searched the area. “They thought maybe he had gotten the net out trying to scoop something out of the water,” the major said. After not finding any sign of Drew, they called the man’s home and another job site where he worked to see if he had contacted anyone there, then the deputies called for the dive team from the Littleton Volunteer Fire Department.
“After about 10 minutes of searching, they found Mr. Drew face down at the bottom or the water under the boat dock,” Casey said. He added the medical examiner had examined the body and classified the death as an accidental drowning. “There were no signs of foul play, no sign of any sort of injuries,” he said.
Casey said though the episode ended tragically, he was proud of the way the area agencies worked together.
“The sheriff’s office would like to thank the Littleton Volunteer Fire Department, Halifax EMS, and NC Wildlife sent an officer with a boat to keep traffic out of the cove,” he said.
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