What This Story Is About
- A 59-year-old fisherman’s body was pulled from the water at a boat ramp on Watts Bar Reservoir on Sunday night.
Why It Matters
- In the wake of the tragedy, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is reminding boaters of the importance of wearing life jackets when on Tennessee waterways.
For Context
- Sunday’s night’s fatality marks the 19th boating-related death in Tennessee this year.
Catch Up
- Body of man who went missing over the weekend found in Tennessee’s ‘deadliest lake’
SPRING CITY, Tenn. (WSMV) – A man’s body was pulled from the Watts Bar Reservoir after his family reported that he failed to show up for a fishing trip over the weekend.
According to a report from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, a family notified agents about a relative who had failed to show up for a fishing trip on Sunday. Game wardens were dispatched to the Tennessee Valley Authority boat ramp off Highway 68 near the dam to check on the “overdue boater” at about 8:30 p.m.
They arrived and met with the family of 59-year-old Leyroy Fairbanks, who told them that when Leyroy failed to show for the trip, they came to his ramp and discovered his boat adrift on the water and still idling, according to the report…