NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — For the third time in less than two weeks, Nashville first responders have recovered the body of someone who went missing out on Percy Priest Lake.
The Nashville Fire Department (NFD) told News 2 that crews were dispatched to the 12200 block of Old Hickory Boulevard near Cook Recreation Area on Sunday, June 4 for reports of a water rescue.
According to officials, a caller told a dispatcher they weren’t sure if somebody had already called 911, but said someone went in the water and hadn’t been seen for about 15 minutes.
After checking with others at the scene, the caller reportedly confirmed the person had not been seen exiting or coming up from the water.
The department said crews launched a boat while personnel on land started to investigate, determining there was a limited number of ways someone could access the area where the callers were.
NFD said units from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) found an abandoned boat in “an additional part of the cove.”
The TWRA said the preliminary investigation indicated that two men were boating when their vessel broke down. One of the two men, identified as 32-year-old Jorge Ventura, went into the water to try and pull the boat to shore using a rope. Ventura reportedly began to struggle while trying to pull the boat and went under water; the other boater was unable to save him.
According to NFD, the rescue mission was reclassified as a recovery mission at the one-hour mark, which was around 5 p.m.
At 5:07 p.m., officials said divers from the Nashville Office of Emergency Management (OEM) were on the way to the lake to search for the missing person, but they would be under special advisement due to the National Weather Service’s thunderstorm warning.
However, at 5:40 p.m., the fire department reported that crews from NFD, TWRA, and Nashville OEM had retreated and taken shelter because dispatch reported lightning strikes.
“They are all still launched in their boats, just not actively searching in the water at this time,” Loney said in a statement to News 2. “They will resume efforts when/if the storm cells pass.”
The TWRA said Monday afternoon that officials recovered Ventura’s body shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday.
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This news comes after Nashville first responders recovered the bodies of two missing swimmers from Percy Priest Lake within a 48-hour period in late May.
The TWRA said this marks the fifth boating death of the year at Percy Priest Lake.
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This is a developing story. WKRN News 2 will continue to update this article as new information becomes available.