Officials waiting to confirm drowning

By PEARCE ADAMS
Anderson Independent-Mail
January 22, 2006

Firefighters are taking a wait-and-see approach before they can verify that an elderly man drowned Sunday in Lake Hartwell.

Dozens of firefighters and their equipment converged on the Seneca River Bridge on S.C. 24 around 3 p.m. Sunday. A motorist called 911, reporting an elderly man walking near the middle of the bridge.

Don McCown, the county’s dive team coordinator and deputy coroner, said the motorist "went by (the elderly man) and did not see him when she looked in her rearview mirror."

The channel under the bridge is about 140 feet deep, Mr. McCown said.

Firefighters attempted to lower cameras into the water, but they would only extend to 120 feet, he said.
There were no other indicators that the man had been on the bridge: no car was found and no other motorists reported seeing him, Mr. McCown said.

Late Sunday afternoon, there were no reports of any missing person, he said.

Pearce Adams can be reached at (800) 859-6397, Ext. 324 or at adamspt@IndependentMail.com