Two boaters who drowned on Center Hill Lake last week were most likely the victims of a capsized boat, authorities said.
The state medical examiner’s preliminary autopsy report concludes that both Robert Tramel, 71, and his niece, 49-year-old Barbara Beach, drowned.
According to TWRA Officer Tony Cross, no foul play is suspected in the incident.
“We have not yet recovered the boat, but we think it overturned,” Cross said. “A combination of the cold water and the lack of lifejackets resulted in the drowning of both victims.” Cross said neither victim was wearing a lifejacket when they embarked from the Redneck Beach area on Holmes Creek Road Wednesday on a fishing trip in a small flat-bottom boat Wednesday.
A fisherman spotted Beach's body just after 5 p.m. Wednesday in 12-14 feet of water.
According to Sheriff Patrick Ray, an investigation revealed that another person was missing as well.
“A call was made at 5:14 p.m. by a fisherman who said he found a body,” Ray said. “Through an investigation, it was discovered that two people had gone fishing earlier that day around the boat ramp off of Holmes Creek Road in Smithville.
Tramel's body was located nearly 12 hours later when the Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad’s sonar system spotted it at around 4:30 a.m., and the TWRA then used a submersible sonar unit equipped with a camera and grab hook to remove the body from the water. No witnesses to the accident have been found.
While the boat has not yet been found, Cross said that the special sonar/camera combo is the only one in the state, and it may be a few days before local officers will be able to get it back in the county to continue the search.
He said the camera will be indispensable in searching the rough terrain underneath the lake.