04/29/13 — Man's body found in water

View Archive

Man's body found in water

By John Joyce
Published in News on April 29, 2013 1:46 PM

The Wayne County Sheriff's Office recovered the body of a drowning victim from a pond near U.S. 117 just after 10 this morning.

Otha Wayne Pollard Sr., 66, of Wilson, went fishing on the pond located at 7433 U.S. 117 N. on Sunday at about 2 p.m., officials said.

When he did not return, his family went looking for him.

They found his boat and equipment but were unable to find Pollard.

Members of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office Dive Team and the Fremont Fire Department were called out to the scene and searched around the banks of the pond, but found nothing.

Due to a lack of visibility, the search was called off after nightfall.

The search operation got back under way first thing this morning.

Pollard's body was soon discovered and retrieved from the pond. His family was notified.

"At this point, we're not sure just what happened. We don't know if he fell in, or had a heart attack, or what happened," said Maj. Tom Effler of the Sheriff's Office.

Effler said it will be up to the medical examiner, or possibly the family, to determine whether an autopsy will be conducted.