Boater’s body recovered after boating incident

On July 1, at 6:01 p.m., the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office received notification of a possible drowning in northeast Alachua County on Little Lake Santa Fe.

The call was initially received by the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office and was immediately routed to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office and FWC.  The initial investigation indicates that one of the passengers voluntarily jumped from a 25’ boat while it was traveling at speeds estimated to be 30 to 35 MPH.

The adult male passenger entered the water and never resurfaced.

In anticipation of the busy holiday weekend, FWC was on the water, which facilitated a rapid response from two of their boats.

The location where the subject entered the water was marked for reference.  Multiple Alachua County Sheriff’s units responded to the nearest boat ramp located inside of Bradford County off of CR 21B.

A command post was established at the boat ramp and a massive search was conducted involving the following assets:  Dive Teams/Marine Units from ACSO, Bradford County Sheriff’s Office, Clay County Sheriff’s Office, FWC, and Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

Gainesville/Alachua County Joint Aviation Unit’s Air 1 also assisted with a grid search of the surface of the lake.

Fire rescue units responded along with Bradford County Emergency Management personnel to assist with the command post and logistics.

More than 65 law enforcement and fire rescue personnel searched for the following 11 hours under challenging conditions including complete darkness, heavy fog and zero visibility due to recent rainfall.

Divers from the various teams took turns rotating in and out of the water to combat fatigue and a steady depletion of available air tanks.

Just after midnight, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Dive Team responded with a tow behind submersible side scan sonar.  Approximately five hours later the sonar detected an object on the lake bottom in 16 feet of water.

ACSO divers St. Richard Rooney, Deputy Barrett Boyette and Deputy James Ferguson entered the water and located the deceased subject in the precise location identified by the sonar.

At approximately 5 a.m., the body was recovered 75 to 100 yards from the point the victim last entered the water.

The deceased was identified as 31-year-old William Scott Wilkes of Green Cove Springs, Fla.  Approximately 75 family members maintained an overnight vigil at the command post.

The Medical Examiner’s Office will be conducting an autopsy to assist investigators.