Sunday afternoon’s drowning of a man in Percy Priest Lake near the Hamilton Creek boat ramp off Bell Road appears accidental.
The victim, who is in his 30s and from the Republic of Colombia, was at the lake with friends when they said he swam out about 15 yards from the shoreline just after 12:30 p.m. and began to struggle. The friends initially thought he was joking around. After he went under and didn’t surface, they swam out to help, but were unsuccessful. Rescue crews recovered the man at 2:35 p.m. Work is continuing to locate and notify his next of kin.