Unsettling discovery of empty kayak leads to body in Lake Waccamaw, NC town says
Searchers have found a body one day after an empty kayak appeared in North Carolina’s Lake Waccamaw, according to investigators.
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Erick Ross, 25, was recovered from the lake around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, the Town of Lake Waccamaw reported in a Sept. 8 news release. He was visiting from South Carolina, officials said.
“Ross … was reported missing after an abandoned kayak was discovered near one of Lake Waccamaw’s boat ramps at approximately 4:45 p.m. Monday,” the town reported. “His cell phone and other personal belongings were found inside the kayak.”
A boat ramp on Canal Cove Road was closed as multiple agencies joined a search for Ross that continued until 1 a.m. Monday. The search resumed after sunrise Monday, officials said.
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A cause of death for Ross has not been released.
He had been kayaking at the lake “for several days,” and was last seen around 4 p.m. Monday before witnesses spotted his empty kayak about 300 yards from shore, WWAY reported.
Lake Waccamaw is about a 125-mile drive south from downtown Raleigh.
The lake covers about 9,000 acres and is the largest of the state’s crater-shaped Carolina Bays, according to VisitNC.com. The lake is about 11 feet at its deepest, Our State magazine reports.
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