Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 2, 1991 TAG: 9104020488
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The body of Marcus Baldwin, a Salem High School student and a state archery champion, was found about a quarter of a mile downstream from where the car skidded off Kessler Mill Road and into the creek.
Salem Police Chief Harry Haskins said the body was spotted about 10:15 a.m. by a game warden from a search helicopter flying overhead.
Haskins said the body, which was under about 5 feet of water, was pulled from the creek by a state police diving team.
For three days, murky water and swift currents had hampered efforts to locate the body. A helicopter had passed more than 25 times over the spot where Baldwin was found Sunday, but the water was too muddy for workers to spot anything, Haskins said.
Marcus was a passenger in a car driven by Susan Ashley Carter, a 16-year-old student at Cave Spring High School in Roanoke County.
Authorities have said that Carter and Baldwin had been at Star City Archery, near the accident site, then drove north to a convenience store near Hanging Rock and were returning to the archery range. They were driving through a steady rainfall about 2:30 p.m. Friday when the accident happened.
Carter was pulled from the car Friday after rescue workers spent about a half-hour fighting swift currents. She was listed in very serious condition Monday at Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
Baldwin's uncle, Fonnie Boyd, said Monday that the family - while expecting the worst - is relieved that the waiting is over.
"We can rest now; we don't have to linger on," Boyd said.
Boyd expressed appreciation for the dozens of police, rescue workers, firefighters, friends and volunteers who spent the past three days searching for the body.
Authorities had searched as far downstream as the point where Mason Creek empties into the Roanoke River near Apperson Drive. But they had expected to find the body closer to the accident scene.
They only wish they could have found it sooner, Haskins said. "The frustration is the hardest part of it," said Salem Fire Department Chief Dan Hall.
Rudy Hann, the junior varsity baseball coach at Salem High, said Baldwin was a capable ballplayer, an accomplished archer and an all-around good person.
"He always had a little grin on his face," Hann said. "He kept things livened up, and he enjoyed life . . . The boy is going to be greatly missed."
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB