THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 16, 1996 TAG: 9606160008
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 32 lines
A 14-year-old girl apparently drowned Friday after falling out of a boat on an outing with friends, police said.
The body of Tiffany Lynnette Williams of the 200 block of Dunn St. in the Crestwood section was recovered from a pond in the Plantation Lakes section about 9 p.m.
Police spokeswoman Elizabeth Jones said Saturday that Williams and three teenage friends had taken a small paddle boat on the water that evening as they had several times before.
The pond, a former borrow pit, is surrounded by homes on Plantation Lakes Circle near Kempsville Road and Volvo Parkway just south of the Virginia Beach border.
Jones said Williams fell out of the boat about 7 p.m. She swam briefly but then disappeared. ``She does swim,'' Jones said, ``so we don't know if she hit her head on something when she fell in or what.''
The three teens in the boat made for shore about 75 feet away and went to the home of the boat owner, seeking help. The man called 911 and went out into the water to find the girl. The first two police officers to arrive also went in but found nothing. ``It was fairly deep, so I don't know if they could have found her anyway,'' Jones said.
Divers from the Chesapeake Underwater Recovery Team located her body in an area of the pit that is about 17 feet deep.
The body was sent to the state medical examiner's office in Norfolk to determine the cause of death.
KEYWORDS: DROWNING ACCIDENT GENERAL by CNB