Winston-Salem police have identified the body of a man who was found in Salem Lake by a canoeist yesterday as Rafael Leroy Wright, 22.
His body was pulled from the water almost a week after a capsized boat was found in the middle of the lake.
Police believe that Wright's death and the capsized boat are connected, but police Capt. David Clayton said investigators may never know exactly what happened.
Clayton said that the lake staff had closed the park just after 8 p.m. on September 14. When they returned the next day, they noticed a small capsized sailboat near the middle of the lake. A rope that tied the boat to a dock at the lake had been cut, Clayton said.
A dive team searched for a body after the boat was discovered, but the visibility in the water was poor and they did not find a body, Clayton said.
A dive team, assisted by a dog trained to find cadavers, made another search Thursday, but no body was found. Clayton said something was found on the boat that warranted making a second search for a body. He declined to say what was found.
A canoeist found the body yesterday afternoon near the shore just off the hiking and biking trails at the southwest part of the lake.
A missing person's report had been filed by Wright's family last week, Clayton said. Wright was not the owner of the boat.
Investigators had tentatively identified the victim in the hours after the body was reported and informed his next of kin, but waited for the results of the autopsy in Chapel Hill to confirm Wright's identity.
Clayton said that Wright appears to have been alone and investigators do not believe foul play was involved.
Wright's death is the first drowning at Salem Lake in two years. In May of 2007, a canoe with three men on board overturned. A Salem Lake employee was able to rescue two of the men, but a third, 19-year-old Jorge Mario Ruano Quinteros, drowned about 60 feet from the shore.
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