ROXBURY, Maine — A man's body, who appears to have drowned after falling out of his fishing boat, was recovered by Maine Game Wardens on Tuesday night.
According to a news release issued by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Wednesday afternoon, 55-year-old Thomas Averill, of Roxbury, was fishing on Ellis Pond alone in a 14-foot aluminum boat on Tuesday night.
"At approximately 7:50 p.m., people on shore noticed an aluminum boat moving across the pond with no one on board, and then noticed movement in the water and heard cries for help," the release reports. "They called 911, and several people boated out to the location but were unable to locate anyone but did find a hat floating in the water."
The release says Maine Game Wardens, first responders from Roxbury, Mexico, and Rumford fire departments, and the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office all responded to the scene.
"Game Wardens found the boat witnesses described, with no driver, in gear with a fishing rod with line out, wedged against the shore of an island," the release states.
Crews searched the pond's shoreline and the island until around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.
According to the release, a Maine Warden Service Plane and Maine warden service divers searched the pond Wednesday morning. Game Warden Pilot Chris Hilton spotted an object on the bottom of the lake around 8:10 a.m. and then directed divers to the area.
"At approximately 8:30 a.m., game warden divers recovered the body of Averill in approximately 10’ of water 200 feet from shore," the release reports.
Averill was found without a life jacket on, but officials did find one in his boat, the release says. His body was transported to Meader and Son Funeral Home in Rumford.
“It appears that Averill was out fishing and fell out of his boat while not wearing a life jacket when the boat was still in gear and moving forward,” Game Warden Sgt. Kyle Hladik said in the release. “Tragically, this is another incident where wearing your life jacket could have saved a life.”
No additional information has been released.
More NEWS CENTER Maine stories