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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 15, 1995                   TAG: 9502150066
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

MISSING MAN'S BODY FOUND FROZEN IN POND

The nearly naked body of an Eden, N.C., man missing since early this month was found in a frozen Henry County pond Monday night, not far from the last place anyone saw him.

Mark Anthony Pratt, 45, was last seen about 5 p.m. Feb. 2 near Saturn Road in the Sandy Level area, not far from the North Carolina border, and just a few miles from his hometown.

Capt. W.H. Dodson of the Henry County Sheriff's Office speculated that Pratt was suffering from hypothermia before he got into the pond. He said the last stage of hypothermia involves the body's getting very hot and Pratt most likely stripped to his underwear and got into the pond to cool off.

The farmer who owned the pond found Pratt's clothes when he went to see if his cattle were getting enough water, Dodson said.

Henry County sheriff's deputies and members of the Eden police and rescue squad recovered the body just before 10 p.m. Monday.

Dodson said Pratt's body has been sent to the medical examiner to determine the cause of death.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB