His death Tuesday, Aug. 20 makes Robert Huey Skelton of 1015 Barker Road the first drowning victim this summer in Weiss Lake, a depository of the Coosa River, authorities said.
His body was found by the Cherokee County Rescue team after it dredged the isolated muddy waters of Ballplay Creek, a tributary of the Coosa River in the Farill Community.
The area is a couple of miles from the Alabama-Georgia, located south of Ala. 9 near Cedar Bluff.
An unidentified friend who was helping Skelton look for arrowheads told police he heard the 41-year-old yell out “but when he turned around he didn’t see him anymore.”
Family who had arrived on the scene said Skelton was a very good swimmer.
The friend said he jumped in after Skelton but was unable to feel or see him under the muddy waters of the stream.
Cherokee County emergency personnel were called to the area off County Road 761 around 3:30 p.m. following a cell phone call from the friend.
After about two hours of extensive searching, which was prolonged by a thunderstorm that swept over the area, Skelton’s body was found around 5:30 p.m. in about nine feet of water.
The family of the Coosa man said he was an avid collector of rocks and arrowheads and maintained a sizable collection at his home.
The area of water where he was found is bordered on both sides by farmland and was described by rescuers as a typical area of backwater, making it very popular with arrowhead hunters, said Cherokee County Coroner Don Rogers.
“They had been hunting arrowheads in the shallow water near the edge and more than once he (Skelton) decided to swim across,” said Capt. Danny Smith, a 30-year veteran of the rescue squad.
The waterway is about 60 yards across and Skelton probably got caught in brush and couldn’t get free.
“There were no injuries or marks to indicate this was anything other than an accidental drowning,” Smith said
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