
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 30, 1993                   TAG: 9307300209
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY  
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

DRAPER RESIDENT DROWNS TRYING TO RETRIEVE BOAT

A Draper man drowned Thursday night after he apparently tired while trying to catch a boat that was drifting away from shore at Claytor Lake, Pulaski County's sheriff said.

Fred Max "Buzz" Walker, 35, had been on a pontoon with a friend earlier in the evening, before the accident happened shortly before 8 p.m., Sheriff Ralph Dobbins said.

Walker and his friend were standing on shore when the boat started drifting out into the lake, Dobbins said. Walker jumped in after it.

He wasn't able to reach it, though, and about 50 yards from shore, began flailing in the water, Dobbins said. A 16-year-old boy jumped in to try to save Walker, but was unsuccessful.

According to friends, Walker wasn't a good swimmer, Dobbins said. He speculated that Walker may have gotten tired and realized how far he was from shore, then panicked.

Dobbins said a diver from the Radford Fire Department found Walker's body in about 6 feet of water around 8:40 p.m.

NOTE: Shorter version ran in the Metro edition.

Memo: ***CORRECTION***

by CNB