Durham County Sheriff's Office resumes search for missing fisherman

BAHAMA, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Durham County Sheriff's Office says it has resumed the search for a missing fisherman. Deputies said the man is believed to have drowned at Little River Lake Sunday after he and another man capsized in their canoe.

It happened just after 9:30 a.m. in the 1300 block of Orange Factory Road.

Deputies said one man was rescued by a good Samaritan nearby who went into the water to help. Search and rescue teams combed the lake, parts of which are 80-90 feet deep, well into Sunday evening. Investigators do not expect to find him alive. The Wildlife Resource Commission and deputies will continue to patrol the lake looking for the man's body.

The man who was rescued was taken to the hospital and his condition is not known.

"Nothing like that has ever happened here before," said neighbor Debra Menard.

Authorities said neither man was wearing a life jacket.

"It's very upsetting," Menard said. "It could have been prevented if he just had on a life jacket."

The canoe was recovered with the men's life jackets on board, investigators told ABC11.

The men's identities have not yet been released.

This report has been corrected from Lake Michie to Little River due to wrong initial information from deputies.