Man drowns at Lake Tabor after diving in to retrieve a beach ball
A Columbus County Sheriff’s Office diver steps into Lake Tabor in search of a drowning victim. (Deuce Niven, TLT)
By DEUCE NIVEN
tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com
An apparent effort to do a good deed cost a man his life at Lake Tabor Saturday afternoon.
Ernest Lee Chavis, 62, who was previously from Parkton and apparently homeless, dove into the lake shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday, Maj. Christopher Hilburn of the Tabor City Police Department said. His body was recovered about two hours later.
Witnesses said Chavis was at the end of the Lake Tabor pier when a gold colored beach ball that had apparently gotten away from someone in the swimming area closer to shore floated past. Chavis dived from the pier and swam towards the ball, reaching it moments before slipping under the water.
Officer Joshua Waters made use of an available flotation device as he made a rescue attempt at Lake Tabor Saturday. (Deuce Niven, TLT)
Officer Joshua Waters was at the lake just minutes after a 911 call was placed and joined two local men with a small boat in the water attempting to locate Chavis. Visibility in the lake, its bottom typically from 6 to 12 feet, is near zero, rescuers on the scene said.
Neither Waters nor the other men were able to locate Chavis, though he was recovered very near the spot they were searching.
“I think that was a valiant effort for him to jump in the water like that,” Hilburn said of Waters.
Sonar equipped rescue boats from the Tabor City and Brunswick fire departments searched in the same area. By then the effort had shifted from rescue to recovery.
As rescuers searched Lake Tabor the beach ball that prompted a man into the water could be seen near the dam. On the boat were, from left, Rocky McPherson, Jeffrey Bell, and Taylor Hammonds. (Deuce Niven, TLT)
Sonar indicated a potential body, first by the Tabor City boat, confirmed by the Brunswick boat. Marker buoys marked the area as the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team responded and prepared to go into the water.
A sheriff’s diver deployed from the Brunswick boat located Chavis after 16 minutes in the water.
This story has been edited to include the name of the victim, which was withheld until family members were notified.
Look for more on this story in the next Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.
