FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) – Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) confirmed to WDBJ7 a Lynchburg resident drowned in the Potomac River Sunday afternoon while kayaking.
Officers were dispatched to the Potomac River in the area of Great Falls for a drowning involving a kayaker around 2:45 p.m. May 3, 2026.
It was determined that three male kayakers were traversing the rapids in the river when 22-year-old William Caufield Lankford, who was wearing a personal flotation device (PFD), became separated from his group. The party of two returned upriver after realizing Lankford was missing and found him struggling in the rapids, according to NRP…