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

DATE: THURSDAY, June 22, 1995                   TAG: 9506220046
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: PARROTT                                LENGTH: Short

TECH STUDENT DROWNS

The victim, originally from West Virginia, was not identified pending notification of relatives.

Investigator Brian Wade of the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office said the victim and his wife, also a Tech student, had been swimming at a spot off Parrott River Road.

The couple was wading back to the riverbank about 1:45 p.m. when the victim fell into a deep hole.

He tried to swim out of the hole but grew tired, Wade said. The victim's wife tried unsuccessfully to pull her husband to safety.

At 2:50 p.m., divers found the victim's cap about 50 yards from the bank. Ten minutes later, they located his body in the same area.

Diver Sam Bell, captain of the Radford Fire Department, said they found him in 10 to 12 feet of water.

This is the third drowning in the New River Valley this year.

Jeffrey Scott Altizer, 28, of Dublin drowned May 5 in the Little River. Altizer wandered into the river after he wrecked his truck.

Some boaters found the body of 28-year-old Mike Melvin in the New River on April 9. The Wytheville man had been missing since March 19 when he fell off a boat.

Keywords:
FATALITY