Search for Falls Lake boater now a recovery mission
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The search phase is over. Recovery and rescue efforts are underway at Falls Lake after 69-year-old Claude Weaver Jr. fell overboard during a boating accident on Monday.
North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission called off the search Thursday afternoon and said they would perform periodic checks in the area throughout the day Friday. The agency was on boat patrol early Friday but decided to suspend water efforts once rain was headed their way.
Officer Brent Ward of the NCWRC spoke with ABC11, saying, "We're going to try and keep people out here until the body's found."
Weaver was on the boat with 54-year-old Durham resident Tammy Albright, whom it is believed was his fiancee. She was sent to Duke Hospital after the accident with water in her lungs but has since been released. Attempts to reach Albright were unsuccessful.
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Ward said once Weaver's body surfaces, it will then be turned over to the medical examiner.
"Please wear your life jacket when you're out on the water. It would have been one more thing that could have aided in saving somebody's life," he stressed.
