Tragedy struck at Virginia’s Smith Mountain Lake this Monday when two younger anglers went lacking after falling into the water. After greater than two days of looking out the lake, authorities introduced on Thursday that that they had recovered the our bodies of the 2 lacking anglers. The males have now been recognized as 21-year-old Landon Oakes and 20-year-old Zachary Travis.
According to experiences from an eyewitness, who referred to as within the incident round 4 p.m. on Monday, the 2 anglers fell overboard when their bass boat capsized in deep water. The witness defined that one of many males was capable of swim to shore, however then he circled to rescue his good friend, who was struggling to hold onto the overturned boat. Authorities can now verify that neither of the younger males ever made it again to land.
Search and rescue crews with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources and the Smith Mountain Lake Marine Volunteer Fire Department responded to the incident on Monday, Jan. 2. Diving crews searched the lake via the night to no avail. They resumed their search the next morning, however by then, Sgt. Tom Dooley with the DWR informed the Roanoke Times that the mission was now thought-about a “recovery effort.”
Read Next: Body of Missing 73-Year-Old Hunter Found After 10-Day Search
Dooley stated on Tuesday that he believed divers would finally discover the 2 our bodies, however that the depth and temperature of the water have been complicating their efforts. According to WFXR-FOX, the world the place the boat capsized is roughly 70 toes deep, and on-line lake experiences present that the water temperature at Smith Mountain is at present hovering round 49 levels. Hypothermia is taken into account a threat when water temps dip beneath 70 levels (relying on the ambient temperature), and a chart by Westpac Marine reveals {that a} human can solely be anticipated to outlive for one to a few hours when submerged in 40- to 50-degree water.
On Tuesday, Jan. 3, Kelly Oakes named her son Landon Oakes as one of many lacking anglers in a Facebook publish. Although she is devastated by the lack of her son, Kelly stated she has discovered some peace in realizing that he died making an attempt to save lots of his good friend.
“Our son, Landon Oakes and his friend decided to take Landon’s bass boat fishing yesterday at Smith Mountain Lake. Steven Oakes received a call yesterday afternoon from state police that no parent ever wants to get. From witness account: the boat turned over and the boys were hanging on to the boat. The witness called 911. Then one boy (Landon – he’s an excellent swimmer), swam to shore. He then went back to get his friend that was struggling and the two never came back above water. By the time Steven and I got there, a bunch of crews were searching and diving. It was all a blurr. Lights everywhere. There is a massive search crew on the way from Richmond and they will search and dive all day today until they recover their bodies. We are in shock! The only peace we have is knowing that in true Landon fashion, he went back to save his friend. I know in my heart that he and my dad are having the time of their lives catching up in heaven. My dad’s fishing lures, etc, that he had given Landon a few years ago were recovered in the boat. My dad was eat up with fishing as was Landon. Landon was so obsessed with fishing that in his words, he got a college degree in fishing. My dad passed away 2 years and 1 day ago yesterday, those number side by side are 21 – Landon is 21 years old. We are beyond devastated and can’t process.”