Nashville crews recover body of man who drowned in Percy Priest Lake
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Nashville crews have recovered the body of a man who drowned after saving someone else in Percy Priest Lake Saturday evening, according to authorities.
Officials said units were called to the 3800 block of Bell Road on Sunday, April 28 after receiving reports about a body that was seen in the water.
The Nashville Fire Department told News 2 shortly before 8:30 a.m. that crews were working to recover the individual who was found, adding that the body “will be turned over to the medical examiner for further identification and investigation in conjunction with MNPD.”
PREVIOUS: Nashville crews search for person in the water at Percy Priest
First responders spent several hours searching the lake Saturday for a person who went underwater.
In that incident, the Nashville Office of Emergency Management (OEM) told News 2 that an adult jumped in to rescue a child who went underwater on Saturday, April 27. The child was reportedly saved, but crews were unable to locate the adult.
First responders from the Nashville Fire Department, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) and Nashville OEM all responded to the scene.
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The TWRA confirmed to News 2 that the person whose body was found Sunday morning was the subject of the search that started Saturday evening.
According to MNPD, 34-year-old Harold L. Tomlinson drowned at approximately 5:30 p.m. on Saturday after he jumped out of a rented pontoon boat to help “a member of his party” from drifting away in the water. After successfully helping the other individual, Tomlinson reportedly began to struggle.
Tomlinson and his friends were enjoying an evening at the lake. Several children were swimming from the vessel near the area of Nashville Shores and Tomlinson jumped into the water without a personal floatation device, according to a TWRA release.
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Due to windy conditions, the TWRA reported the the water had become rough and the vessel drifted away. Witnesses said Tomlinson called for the boat to come closer but they were unable to locate him.
Tomlinson’s body was recovered around 8 a.m. on Sunday near the dam in Percy Priest Lake. His death is the first boating related fatality on J. Percy Priest for the year and the third boating related fatality on Tennessee waterways.
No additional details have been released about this incident.
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