Boat found adrift with jammed motor leads to grisly discovery downriver, NC cops say
When a citizen noticed an empty boat meandering down a North Carolina river, they called the local sheriff. Less than an hour later, clues on board led to a dire discovery.
Camden County Sheriff Kevin Jones arrived at the Pasquotank River around 5:19 p.m. on Mar. 1 to check out the empty boat, where he noticed something odd.
Fishing poles were hung up in the boat as if someone was fishing, but there was no one aboard, Jones told McClatchy News.
A mat of fishing line was ensnared in the boat engines, which wasn’t running when authorities examined it, Jones said.
“At that point, we retrieved this vessel and began to search the shoreline for someone that we believe may have fallen from the boat,” Jones told McClatchy News.
Roughly one mile south of where the police found the boat, Jones said he spotted the body of the missing fisherman.
The man was identified as Robert Wayne Tadlock, 69, of Elizabeth City.
“It appeared that he may have been attempting to unravel the fishing line from the engines prop when he fell into the river,” Jones said. “He was not wearing a flotation device.”
Jones said Tadlock was identified by an ID card found with his body that matched the registration of the boat, and a pickup truck and a trailer found at the boat launch site.
The Pasquotank River is a coastal waterway that runs into Albemarle Sound in northeastern North Carolina.
Camden County is about 2.5 hours northeast of Raleigh.
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