Missing boater recovered from Lake Norman after day-long search near nuclear plant
Searchers recovered the body of a missing boater from Lake Norman on Saturday night after a day-long search near McGuire Nuclear Station, Cornelius-Lemley Fire Rescue officials said.
Duane Strong wasn’t wearing a life jacket when he jumped from a moving sailboat to swim about 10:20 a.m., Cornelius Today reported, citing the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
Strong was a 64-year-old former Mooresville resident who lived in northeast Charlotte, public records show.
Emergency responders recovered Strong about 6:10 p.m.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the individual,” the fire department posted on Facebook. “Any updates from this point on will come from NC Wildlife Resources Commission.”
Boaters were urged to avoid the area of the search operation that lasted about eight hours.
Numerous fire and police departments responded to an area of Cornelius between Belle Isle Drive and McGuire Nuclear Station, Cornelius-Lemley Fire Rescue said on Facebook. The Duke Energy plant is in Huntersville on the southern end of the lake.
“If you’re on #LKN today, please avoid this area and let crews operate,” Cornelius-Lemley Fire Rescue said on Facebook.
The Cornelius, Huntersville, Denver and Sherrills Ford-Terrell fire departments sent crews to the scene, along with the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office and Cornelius Police Department.
The rescue happened near Marker R1. The Cornelius 21 fire station had command of the operation.
This story was originally published August 10, 2024 at 1:46 PM.