62-year-old trying to retrieve lost beach ball drowns in lake, NC cops say

A 62-year-old man drowned while trying to retrieve a beach ball lost in a North Carolina lake, police told news outlets.

Officers responded to a 911 call at Lake Tabor at about 3:45 p.m. Saturday, July 12, Tabor City police told WECT.

Witnesses told police a man, identified as Ernest Lee Chavis, dove off a pier and swam out to get a beach ball floating in the lake, the station reported.

Police say Chavis swam about 200 feet from shore and grabbed the ball, but “was having trouble swimming with the ball” on the way back, and he went underwater, according to the News Reporter.

According to witnesses, the ball didn’t belong to Chavis and he was trying to retrieve it for someone else, the Tabor-Loris Tribune reported.

An officer arrived at the lake within minutes and went into the water with an inner tube in an attempt to rescue Chavis, the outlet reported. However, search crews with sonar located his body later in the day and he was recovered by divers, officials said.

Investigators said they were able to identify Chavis because he gave his wallet to bystanders before entering the water, the News Reporter reported.

Lake Tabor is a roughly 130-mile drive south from Raleigh.

This story was originally published July 13, 2025 at 12:52 PM with the headline "62-year-old trying to retrieve lost beach ball drowns in lake, NC cops say."