PLEASE WEAR YOUR PFD AND HAVE IT CONNECTED TO YOUR KILL SWITCH.

Drowning of Shelton ruled an accident

Friday, May 8, 2009 12:42 PM EDT

By Lisa Andrews, Staff Writer

MECKLENBURG COUNTY The death of a well-known South Hill doctor this week has been ruled an accidental drowning by officials.

The body of Dr. William A. Shelton, Jr., 55, of South Hill, was found Tuesday morning in 10 feet of water in Rudd's Creek in Boydton. The doctor had not been seen or heard from since Sunday afternoon when he told his family he was going fishing on his boat alone.

Sgt. Jon Hart, Conservation Police Supervisor for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF), who led the investigation into the boating accident, said Wednesday, The autopsy of Dr. Shelton is complete and the cause of death is drowning. The investigation shows that the drowning is a result of a boating accident. The autopsy was performed by the Virginia Medical Examiner's Office in Richmond.

Hart said, Evidence shows that Dr. Shelton had started his outboard motor and was headed out towards the main creek channel of Rudd's Creek. Our investigation revealed that at some point, immediately after this, Dr. Shelton stood up in the boat for some unknown reason and was subsequently separated from the vessel. Hart said a time of death would not be available until the full autopsy report is returned from Richmond.

EVERYONE, PLEASE BE CAREFUL ON THE WATER.  WE DO NOT WANT TO LOSE ANYONE THIS YEAR.

Sadly, no matter how much you tell people and plead with them to be safe, there will always be a few that are "indestructible"! A cousin of mine drowned in 4' of water 10 years ago because of unsafe acts on the water. Lets hope we don't lose anyone this year or any other.

Last year we did see a guy with 3 little kids in the boat and not one had a vest on, the kids were about 4 to 8 years of age! I did hear later in the day that one of these kids fell in and that the guy in the boat did save the kid by grabing his hair and pulling him into the boat! What a dumb as_ he was very lucky that day!

Smart enough to become a Dr, but not smart enough to wear a PFD at ALL tiimes while on the water.

I'll just never get it.

Sad though. Prayers to this man and his loved ones.

Fish

PS, Some guys apparently feel that wearing a PFD makes them look like a wimp. I feel like wearing my PFD makes me look "smart".

Smart enough to become a Dr, but not smart enough to wear a PFD at ALL tiimes while on the water.

I'll just never get it.

Sad though. Prayers to this man and his loved ones.

Fish

PS, Some guys apparently feel that wearing a PFD makes them look like a wimp. I feel like wearing my PFD makes me look "smart".

Well said!

I just hate reading stuff like this. Prayers to the family.

Smart enough to become a Dr, but not smart enough to wear a PFD at ALL tiimes while on the water.

I'll just never get it.

Sad though. Prayers to this man and his loved ones.

Fish

PS, Some guys apparently feel that wearing a PFD makes them look like a wimp. I feel like wearing my PFD makes me look "smart".

Well put Chris. Same with seatbelts. My life is worth more than a wrinkle free shirt and/or looking cool.

T & P out to the family.

A 17 year old died today in our fishing opener.  He was out fishing with two of his friends.  They swam to shore, he didn't make it.  None of them were wearing life jackets.

It's a sad thing. It's even sadder that it happens some often.

Just another reminder to be safe out there and wear your life vests.

Thanks for the video and the visual reminder to be safe out there.  That is really sobering to say the least.

That is such an illustration of complete disregard for safety and common sense!  Crossing a boats wake that close to the other boat at that speed.  Wow that could have resulted in several fatalities.

You could see that boat set up, whether it was operator error on trim and/or jack plate settings, or if it was the boat/engine package itself was bad to begin with.  Earlier in the video the thing was chine walking like crazy with little to no waves/chop.  And why was he traveling so fast so close to all those pilings in the beginning?

Thanks for the video and the visual reminder to be safe out there. That is really sobering to say the least.

That is such an illustration of complete disregard for safety and common sense! Crossing a boats wake that close to the other boat at that speed. Wow that could have resulted in several fatalities.

You could see that boat set up, whether it was operator error on trim and/or jack plate settings, or if it was the boat/engine package itself was bad to begin with. Earlier in the video the thing was chine walking like crazy with little to no waves/chop. And why was he traveling so fast so close to all those pilings in the beginning?

Yup,that guy would have been dead if it wasn't for his PFD and his kill switch.

Whoever caught that video isn't allowing any negative comments as it was his friend who pulled that stupid stunt in the first place.

It's kinda hard for me to feel bad for idiots like this sometimes. :-/

I really hope they learned something from that experience.

Thanks for the video and the visual reminder to be safe out there. That is really sobering to say the least.

That is such an illustration of complete disregard for safety and common sense!  Crossing a boats wake that close to the other boat at that speed.  Wow that could have resulted in several fatalities.

You could see that boat set up, whether it was operator error on trim and/or jack plate settings, or if it was the boat/engine package itself was bad to begin with. Earlier in the video the thing was chine walking like crazy with little to no waves/chop. And why was he traveling so fast so close to all those pilings in the beginning?

Yup,that guy would have been dead if it wasn't for his PFD and his kill switch.

Whoever caught that video isn't allowing any negative comments as it was his friend who pulled that stupid stunt in the first place.

It's kinda hard for me to feel bad for idiots like this sometimes. :-/

I really hope they learned something from that experience.

X2 fellas. I was thinking that he was being exceptionally foolish even before he crossed the boat's wake. He had a couple spots where you could see the boat bouncing side to side a little at those speeds. I'm hoping either he learned his lesson and will drive more responsibly or his boat was trashed and can't afford another. Either way will save lives, starting with his own.

Smart enough to become a Dr, but not smart enough to wear a PFD at ALL tiimes while on the water.

I'll just never get it.

Sad though. Prayers to this man and his loved ones.

Fish

PS, Some guys apparently feel that wearing a PFD makes them look like a wimp. I feel like wearing my PFD makes me look "smart".

Depending on what type of vest you have you can put it to good use. I have one of the vest ones (not autoinflating). Has pockets and spots to clip stuff to all over it. I got it rigged like a trout vest. Got my hook remover and leatherman tied on with those tool retactors, got pockets for my cell phone (kept in a nice ziplock bag), extra hooks, etc., and I tied on my trout net.  It seems every time I need a net I find myself separated from the one in the boat.

Anyway, the vest is safe, and it can be very handy. Like wearing a very small portion of my tackle box.

 Just comes in really handy

Just another reminder to be safe out there and wear your life vests.

Wow! Yeah that is what happens when you use your bass boat like it is a jet ski. While i do not find any joy in his unfortunate situation, I have to say, this is why I think boating courses need to be mandatory for driving boats in ALL states.

There are way to many folks who do not know the rules, safety best practices, and other important information governing use of watercraft. They endanger themselves, their passengers and others.

Smart enough to become a Dr, but not smart enough to wear a PFD at ALL tiimes while on the water.

I'll just never get it.

Sad though. Prayers to this man and his loved ones.

Fish

PS, Some guys apparently feel that wearing a PFD makes them look like a wimp. I feel like wearing my PFD makes me look "smart".

Id rather be a live wimp then a dead wimp .I xcan swim like a fish and stay under for 45 seconds BUT i know anything can happen