May 01
Two men drown after boat flips
WEST COCOA - A Sunday fishing trip turned tragic for three friends after two of the men drowned and a third watched in horror from the shoreline of a canal entrance to Lake Poinsett.
The accident happened about noon as Perry Jackson, 53, James Johnson, 57, and Leroy Holmes, 53, sat in a small boat in the middle of the canal off of Mallard Road.
All are from Cocoa.
"The fish weren't biting and from what we know, one of the men stood up and the bow of the boat dipped in the water," Deputy Mike Scully said.
"The boat then flipped over. None of them were wearing flotation devices," Scully said.
Jackson and Johnson drowned.
Brevard County sheriff's dive team members pulled one of the drowned men from the 8-foot-deep canal about 2 p.m. Sunday. The first victim had been pulled from the water about two hours earlier by a resident in a pontoon boat.
"This is a tragedy," dive team commander Steve Salvo said.
The sole survivor, Holmes, managed to swim to shore, where he watched as his two friends lost their battle to stay afloat in the coffee-brown water.
Later, he was led to the deck of a private home, where he sat looking out at recovery effort. Several residents wrapped him in a yellow towel, patted him on the shoulder and hugged him, as he struggled to talk with a deputy.
The small boat the men were in came to rest on the bank across the canal. Not far away were shoes and a pair of pants.
"There was quite a bit of current out there. But we had divers in the water literally within a few minutes," Scully said.
Dive team members suited up and, as residents watched from the shoreline and a nearby dock, jumped into the fast-moving water and scoured the bottom for the second victim. A sheriff's pontoon boat also searched the water.
Robert Jeter, a Palm Bay resident visiting Cocoa, was nearby when he heard frantic screams from the canal.
"I ran up, and I saw three people in the water," Jeter said.
Jeter then got into his pontoon boat and drove it out to the canal. The screams continued, even as Holmes made it ashore.
"I saw another one of the men was swimming on his back. Then I heard one of them say, 'I don't know if I'm going to make it.' "
Jeter carefully guided the boat alongside one of the victims floating face-down in the water and pulled him aboard.
"It's what anyone would do. It's what you would do," he said as he looked at the bodies of the two men.
The dive team members -- who train continuously to search for weapons, bodies and even cars lost in murky water -- found the body of the second victim in less than two hours. They then gently covered him in a yellow body bag and waded back to the shoreline.
The second body was laid beside the first, which was covered by a white sheet.
An investigation is ongoing and an autopsy will be scheduled later this week, officials said. Officer Kat Kelly, a spokeswoman for Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said alcohol was not involved.
Officers, however, believe wearing life vests would have given the men a chance at survival.
"Personal flotation devices are the key to surviving these kinds of situations," Scully said.
"It's critical."
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.d ... s=Itemnr=1
Two men drown after boat flips
WEST COCOA - A Sunday fishing trip turned tragic for three friends after two of the men drowned and a third watched in horror from the shoreline of a canal entrance to Lake Poinsett.
The accident happened about noon as Perry Jackson, 53, James Johnson, 57, and Leroy Holmes, 53, sat in a small boat in the middle of the canal off of Mallard Road.
All are from Cocoa.
"The fish weren't biting and from what we know, one of the men stood up and the bow of the boat dipped in the water," Deputy Mike Scully said.
"The boat then flipped over. None of them were wearing flotation devices," Scully said.
Jackson and Johnson drowned.
Brevard County sheriff's dive team members pulled one of the drowned men from the 8-foot-deep canal about 2 p.m. Sunday. The first victim had been pulled from the water about two hours earlier by a resident in a pontoon boat.
"This is a tragedy," dive team commander Steve Salvo said.
The sole survivor, Holmes, managed to swim to shore, where he watched as his two friends lost their battle to stay afloat in the coffee-brown water.
Later, he was led to the deck of a private home, where he sat looking out at recovery effort. Several residents wrapped him in a yellow towel, patted him on the shoulder and hugged him, as he struggled to talk with a deputy.
The small boat the men were in came to rest on the bank across the canal. Not far away were shoes and a pair of pants.
"There was quite a bit of current out there. But we had divers in the water literally within a few minutes," Scully said.
Dive team members suited up and, as residents watched from the shoreline and a nearby dock, jumped into the fast-moving water and scoured the bottom for the second victim. A sheriff's pontoon boat also searched the water.
Robert Jeter, a Palm Bay resident visiting Cocoa, was nearby when he heard frantic screams from the canal.
"I ran up, and I saw three people in the water," Jeter said.
Jeter then got into his pontoon boat and drove it out to the canal. The screams continued, even as Holmes made it ashore.
"I saw another one of the men was swimming on his back. Then I heard one of them say, 'I don't know if I'm going to make it.' "
Jeter carefully guided the boat alongside one of the victims floating face-down in the water and pulled him aboard.
"It's what anyone would do. It's what you would do," he said as he looked at the bodies of the two men.
The dive team members -- who train continuously to search for weapons, bodies and even cars lost in murky water -- found the body of the second victim in less than two hours. They then gently covered him in a yellow body bag and waded back to the shoreline.
The second body was laid beside the first, which was covered by a white sheet.
An investigation is ongoing and an autopsy will be scheduled later this week, officials said. Officer Kat Kelly, a spokeswoman for Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said alcohol was not involved.
Officers, however, believe wearing life vests would have given the men a chance at survival.
"Personal flotation devices are the key to surviving these kinds of situations," Scully said.
"It's critical."
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.d ... s=Itemnr=1
