Boaters find body; authorities in recovery effort
By Wes Wade | (wes.wade@thedailytimes.com)
Authorities were called to a section of the Little River in Rockford Thursday evening after a body was discovered in the water.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency was the first agency to arrive after two boaters found the body about a half-mile downstream of the Roddy Branch boat dock.
The Blount County Sheriff’s Office arrived shortly thereafter and took over as lead agency in the investigation. The original call came out at around 7:40 p.m., authorities said.
Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Marian O’Briant said the body was a male and that authorities were searching missing persons databanks for possible matches. Officials were unable to provide any more details about the victim at the time.
Two members of the the Blount County Fire Department Dive and Rescue Team, along with two members of the Sheriff’s Office, took a boat out on the water for an initial search effort just after 9 p.m. Blount County Fire Chief Doug McClanahan said the team would find out what would be needed for the upcoming recovery effort.
“They’re going to go out there and see what kind of situation we’re in and then report back,” McClanahan said. “And we’ll send someone else back out.”
McClanahan said it could take several hours before the recovery operation was complete.
“It may be we can get to the body real quickly,” he said. “If not, we’ll have to send out divers.”
Rural/Metro Ambulance Service and Blount County Rescue Squad personnel were also on the scene. Emergency personnel were waiting with a stokes basket near the dock to transport the body once the recovery effort was over.
