Fisherman’s body found near dock where he fell into canal, North Carolina police say
The body of a fisherman who officials say likely drowned was found Monday in a North Carolina canal.
Joshua Stafford, 41, was fishing off a floating dock Sunday afternoon near Jarrett Bay Marine Industrial Park in Beaufort when he fell into Core Creek Canal and never resurfaced, according to a Tuesday news release from the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office.
Emergency responders were called to the park Monday morning after Stafford was reported missing.
Multiple agencies searched the water most of the day and recovered his body around 4 p.m., the sheriff’s office says.
A Tow Boat U.S. diver using a “side-scan sonar” found Stafford’s body about 3 feet below the water’s surface and about 2 feet away from the dock where he was fishing Sunday, according to the sheriff’s office.
Officials are still investigating but “do not suspect foul play.” Security footage from a nearby business showed Stafford falling into the water while fishing, the sheriff’s office says.
The sheriff’s office says Stafford is “believed to have drowned.”
Beaufort is in Eastern North Carolina, about 150 miles from Raleigh and near the state’s Outer Banks.
