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GPD investigating possible drowning over weekend at Lake Eddleman

Fri, 08/28/2020 - 2:28 pm
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    A boat ramp and dock off of Boat Ramp Road in Graham on Lake Eddleman. The body of a Graham man was found off Boat Ramp Road in Graham by the Graham Fire and Rescue dive team Sunday, Aug. 23, with investigation ongoing into the cause and manner of death. (Leader photo by Thomas Wallner)
editor@grahamleader.com

The body of a Graham man was found off Boat Ramp Road in Graham by the Graham Fire and Rescue dive team Sunday, Aug. 23, with investigation ongoing into the cause and manner of death.

On Sunday at 11:30 a.m. Marine Safety Enforcement Officer Bobby Joe Cook was contacted by the Young County Sheriff’s Office in reference to a possible drowning at Lake Eddleman, according to a press release from MSEO Cook. MSEO Cook arrived and found the boat, which was located running and stuck on a sandbar just east of the boat dock, belonged to Gilbert Nelson, 68, of Graham.

“Young County Sheriff Travis Babcock, who was also on scene, already had divers from Graham Fire and Rescue in the water and Texas Game Warden’s Matt Waggoner and Michael Foster were also in the water using their sonar system,” MSEO Cook wrote in the release.

A witness reported seeing Nelson in the boat earlier Sunday morning on Lake Eddleman and also reported finding a hat which Nelson was wearing floating in the water between the dock and where the boat was located.

Two hours after MSEO Cook was notified, the dive team located Nelson’s body between the boat dock and the actual boat ramp in approximately 6-10 ft. of water, according to MSEO Cook. The cause and manner of death are pending at the time, but Cook wrote no foul play is suspected at this time.

Nelson’s body was transferred to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsy.