TWRA officers responded around 1:30 p.m. EDT on Thursday to a call reported through Rhea County 911 of an over-due boater. While en route, officers received a second call regarding a citizen who located the vessel afloat on Watts Bar Lake.
Wildlife officers, along with the Rhea County Sheriff’s Office and Rhea County EMS, responded by land and water, about three and a half miles north of the dam. A pontoon boat was found afloat and the body of 81-year-old Rhea County resident Larry Ezell was found in the water.
His body was transported to the Knox County Forensics Center. The incident remains under investigation.
This is the 27th boating related fatality this year.