WHEELER DAM VILLAGE, Ala. — None of the occupants of a boat that capsized near Wheeler Dam on Saturday -- including a 72-year-old man who died -- was wearing a floatation device, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said on Sunday.
The incident happened about 2 p.m. on Wilson Lake in Lauderdale County.
The apparent drowning victim, Dennis Neal, was one of three people on a 1977 Hurricane fishing boat when its trolling motor failed and it was drawn into the dam's generators, overturning.
Timothy Hazelwood, 44, and a 14-year-old boy survived, but Neal died before rescuers could assist.
All three of the boaters are from Lewisburg, Tenn.
A Trooper with the ALEA Marine Patrol Division and members of the Killen Fire Department were able to rescue Hazelwood and the teen -- both found in-between two of the dam’s turbines. Neal’s body was later recovered near the location in which Hazelwood and the teen were rescued.
