Lake Murray, SC (Paul Kirby) - Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher has identified the man she believed drowned Monday afternoon in the waters of Lake Murray. Fisher said Tuesday that the body of Clint Alexander Brown, 38, of Columbia was recovered sometime around 3:00 p.m. on Monday, July 6, 2020.
According to Coroner Fisher, Brown was a passenger in a Jon Boat on the lake. He and the boat’s operator encountered choppy water and the boat began to swamp. Brown apparently fell or was thrown from the Jon Boat that eventually became submerged. Brown was found and recovered from the water in the Willow Cove Road area of Lake Murray and was pronounced deceased on scene. Neither Brown nor the operator of the boat was wearing life jackets when the boat sank.
The Irmo Fire District, Lexington County’s EMS, and the Lexington County Fire Service responded to this call. At first, the exact location of where the accident occurred created some confusion. Accidents of this nature on Lake Murray can be very difficult to pinpoint. An individual who witnesses a boating accident from the shore of the lake could see the boaters in distress on the water, yet those boaters’ location could be a great distance away for emergency personnel responding by land. When specially trained deputies from the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department responded with a rescue boats they were able to quickly locate Brown and the accident scene.
The incident is under investigation by the SC DNR.
