A person who jumped from a boat into Lake Wylie on Monday and did not resurface was recovered by divers Tuesday morning, the York County Sheriff’s Office said.
Search crews suspended their efforts Monday and resumed at first light Tuesday in the waters near Tega Cay close to the Catawba Dam. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources is investigating the incident, and the York County Coroner’s Office is notifying the next of kin. Authorities have not released the name or age of the person recovered.
The death comes days before the start of Memorial Day weekend, traditionally the busiest stretch of the year on Lake Wylie, and prompted an explicit warning from the Sheriff’s Office urging boaters and swimmers to wear life jackets on the water.
What deputies said happened
According to the initial report to deputies, the person jumped from a boat into the lake, submerged, and never resurfaced. The Sheriff’s Office responded along with South Carolina Department of Natural Resources to the area near Tega Cay close to the Catawba Dam.
The Sheriff’s Office did not say whether the person was wearing a life jacket, how many people were on the boat, or what depth of water he entered.
Search resumes Tuesday in dark water
Crews returned to the water at first light Tuesday after Monday’s search was suspended. The Sheriff’s Office reported at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday that deputies and Department of Natural Resources divers were in the water and relying on sonar imaging to navigate, because Lake Wylie is pitch black at 35 feet deep.
By 11:25 a.m., the Sheriff’s Office confirmed that divers had recovered the missing person and that the search had ended.
A warning ahead of the holiday weekend
In its update announcing the recovery, the Sheriff’s Office tied the death directly to the start of the summer boating season.
“This tragedy should be a reminder to boaters as we go into the Memorial Day weekend and summer boating season to take safety seriously and wear a life jacket when in the water,” the agency said in its post.
Lake Wylie sits on the border of York County and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and draws heavy boat traffic from Tega Cay, Lake Wylie, Clover, and the Charlotte metro on summer weekends. The Catawba Dam at the southern end of the lake marks one of the deeper sections of the reservoir, with depths reaching well beyond what divers can see without sonar.
South Carolina law requires children under 12 to wear a U.S. Coast Guard approved life jacket while on a boat that is underway, and requires at least one wearable life jacket of the correct size for every person on board any vessel.
Drownings on the lake have prompted repeated calls from local officials in recent years for boaters to wear life jackets rather than simply stow them, especially in deeper sections where cold water and limited visibility complicate any rescue.
What comes next
The Department of Natural Resources will lead the investigation into how the death occurred. The Coroner’s Office is responsible for confirming the cause and manner of death and for releasing the identity of the deceased once the family has been notified.
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