Maryland Man Dies In Accidental Drowning

A 43-year-old man from Maryland died in an accidental drowning at The Preserve in Rising Fawn on Sunday, June 21.

The Dade County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched Sunday night, at approximately 9:04 p.m. in reference to a drowning.

The 911 call was from a 14-year-old boy who advised his father had been swimming in the lake and had not resurfaced for approximately 10 minutes.

Deputies arrived on scene and made contact with the child and mother. The family is from Maryland and were vacationing in one of the cabins on the lake at The Preserve in Rising Fawn.

The mother and son confirmed that the father was attempting to swim across the lake and on his way back to the dock became fatigued. The family attempted to throw a life jacket and even attempted to unhook a canoe at the cabin, yet were unsuccessful. The father did not resurface.

Deputies assessed that no rescue was possible, only a recovery.

Dade County Sheriff Ray Cross responded to the scene and met with the family. Sheriff Cross reached out to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team, who arrived on scene at approximately midnight.

Efforts continued into the early morning hours where the father was recovered and extricated from the lake at approximately 2 a.m. The scene was released to the Dade County Coroner’s Office thereafter.

The Dade County Sheriff’s Office Chaplin Rex Mayo also responded to the scene to assist the family and to support all public service personnel.