Beloved baseball player found dead after kayak capsizes while duck hunting, AL cops say
The body of a 22-year-old who drowned in an Alabama lake was found by officials after he died doing one of his passions: duck hunting.
The missing duck hunter, identified as Brooks Hardie from Georgia, was recovered near Goose Pond Resort on Lake Guntersville, about 90 miles northeast of Birmingham, according to a Dec. 18 Alabama Law Enforcement Agency news release. Hardie was a cherished student athlete who played football and baseball throughout his life in Georgia, according to several people who posted tributes on Facebook.
There was no indication of foul play, an ALEA spokesperson told McClatchy News in an email.
Alabama Law Enforcement Agency officers initially responded to a report of Hardie’s kayak capsizing while duck hunting on the lake early on Dec. 16, officials said. He never resurfaced, the agency said, and the search went on until 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 18, when his body was found.
The investigation into Hardie’s death is ongoing, officials said.
After the news of Hardie’s death, his former K-12 school system, Bremen City Schools, commemorated him on Facebook. He graduated from Bremen High School in 2021, according to the school system.
He went on play baseball for two seasons at Snead State Community College before graduating earlier this year, the college wrote in a Dec. 18 Facebook post. He played infield, according to Snead State Athletics.
“He was the true definition of Snead State Baseball,” the community college’s head baseball coach Casey Underwood said in the post. “He cared more about the guy to his right and left than he did himself. He wanted nothing more than to make the guys next to him much better.”
The loss of Hardie was also felt by those he played baseball with in high school, including Blue Devil Baseball, according to a Facebook fan page for his high school team. Calling Hardie the “identity” of the team for several years, the fan page said the 22-year-old made a lasting impact on the team that still lasts today.
“The way he prepared, competed, and lead the way will never be forgotten. We KNOW you are in heaven and can’t wait to see you again!” the post read.
Canes Southeast Baseball, a travel baseball team, posted in remembrance of Hardie, saying the team’s “hearts are broken” at the news of his death.
Hardie played football as well during his time at Bremen High School — a time two of his coaches remembered fondly in their tributes to the 22-year-old.
“The world is a better place because you were in it,” Rooster Russell, the school’s head football coach, said in the Facebook post.
Another of Hardie’s coaches, Drew Willis, said in a Facebook post that the former football player was always “serving others,” whether it was on the field or duck hunting.
Willis recalled times he shared with Hardie playing football as well as a time he visited Willis’ sons on Christmas morning to gift them turkey and deer calls.
“I hadn’t cried up to this point. Now these tears won’t stop,” Willis said in the post.
Bremen is about 45 miles west of Atlanta.
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