By Fred Guarino
The Lowndes Signal

A Fort Deposit man was declared dead following an accidental drowning at a pond off Alabama 185 in the Fort Deposit area of Lowndes County Friday, according to Lowndes County Coroner Doris Alexander.

Alexander said a 69-year-old man identified as A.B. McPherson of McPherson Drive in Fort Deposit was declared dead at the scene after he was recovered from a pond off Alabama 185.

Alexander said she received the call at about 6:15 p.m., arrived on the scene around 6:20 p.m. and declared McPherson dead at the scene at 6:27 p.m.

Capt. Chris West of the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department said he investigated the drowning.

West said two brothers and a neighbor, all of Fort Deposit, had been fishing Friday when the accident happened.

According to West, McPherson was at the front of a boat that a neighbor, identified as Paul Corriz, was steering with a trolling motor.

West said that according to Corriz, “all of a sudden the boat started rocking and he saw his neighbor come off the boat going into the water” and after a while the boat turned “bottom upward.”

West said Corriz stated his legs got tangled in rope and fish line and that he heard the other brother, identified by West as David Earl McPherson, call “Come on A.B. you can make it.”

According West, David Earl McPherson said he went to get a life vest and by the time he looked back, A.B. McPherson “was floating on top of the water.”

West said David Earl McPherson pulled A.B. McPherson to the bank where efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful. West said Fort Deposit Police Officer Terry Steiner pulled Corriz from the water.

According to the incident report, the accidental drowning occurred at 5:57 p.m.

Fort Deposit Police Chief Brandon Thomas said the incident occurred in the county’s jurisdiction but Fort Deposit Police and the Fort Deposit Volunteer Fire Department responded to the scene.