| At approximately 11:30am on Saturday, November 25, 2006 the Gates County Rescue & EMS's Search and Rescue team was deployed to Merchants Millpond on a report of a missing man. The team quickly took actions to look for the man who had not been seen since the night before. The man left his campsite to take a canoe to his vehicle around dawn. Fellow campers became worried the next morning when he had not returned. They started a search, only to find his vacant canoe. They then placed a call to 911 for help. Incident Command was established on scene by Chief Billy Winn, who watched over the incident to make sure everything ran smoothly. The Search Team was assisted by Merchant Millpond Superintendant Jay Greenwood, NC Wildlife Commission officers, Emergency Management Coordinator Wendy Noble, and Sheriff Ed Webb. The man's body was recovered 80 minutes into the search in the main section of the millpond. Drowning was documented at the cause of death in this incident. No fowl play was suspected. |
