Man tries to save friend; both drown

Nighttime swim at Neuse River park ends in tragedy

RALEIGH -- Milburnie Park, a recreation area on the Neuse River where two people drowned early Wednesday, is a popular hangout spot for young people, especially after dark, nearby residents say.

The city of Raleigh has owned the land around Milburnie Dam since 1981. City officials have posted a sign alongside the asphalt and gravel road leading to the river that says the park is closed from 11 p.m. until 6 a.m. and that swimming and wading are not allowed without a lifeguard present.

"There is never a lifeguard present at that site," Kellee Beach, a spokeswoman with the city Parks and Recreation Department, said Wednesday. "It's only designated as a canoe launch site."

Nonetheless, at least three people tried to swim in the Neuse there about 2 a.m. Wednesday, authorities said. Two of them drowned. Emergency workers found the body of John Brian Taylor, 21, of Raleigh about 6:23 a.m. and found the second, Michael Patrick McDowell, 21, of Wendell shortly before noon.

Police spokesman Jim Sughrue said the three swimmers clambered down wooden steps where canoes are launched, waded into the river's dark, murky waters and swam a short distance to a formation of gray rock jutting out of the river. They stopped and then resumed swimming north toward Milburnie Dam, where the currents were stronger because of the waterfall cascading over the dam, Sughrue said.

The trio walked around the dam for a while, then started to swim back toward the launch area.

William Riley, McDowell's stepfather, said his stepson had already reached the other bank when he heard his friend, Taylor, yelling for help. Riley said McDowell then jumped back in to save Taylor, but both men ended up going under and drowning.

Sughrue said that the third swimmer reached the bank, climbed out of the water and alerted a resident of the nearby Beechwood Park apartments, who called 911 at 2:59 a.m.

A woman placed the call, but a second person, a man who appeared out of breath, soon got on the phone.

"Two of my friends got in the Neuse River with me and they never came up," the man told the 911 dispatcher.

Riley, his son Bryant and other family members were at the site Wednesday morning, waiting anxiously as divers with the Apex Fire Department searched for McDowell. Riley, wearing a blue state Department of Correction employees' uniform, chain-smoked and paced to and from his Ford Expedition, crying and repeating "Mikey, Mikey." Riley collapsed in the arms of family members after identifying his stepson's body for police.

A new apartment

Contacted Wednesday evening by phone, Riley said his stepson was well liked, a former football star who had begun working highway construction since coming home from college. Riley said he last spoke with his stepson Tuesday night about McDowell's new apartment.

"He was so excited," Riley said. "He was getting all new furniture, and he wanted my flat screen TV."

Riley added he was not surprised his stepson, who was a standout running back at East Wake High School, dove back in to help his friend.

"He was always doing all he could for someone," Riley said.

The woman who called 911 told the dispatcher Taylor and McDowell had been drinking before they went into the river.

Nancy Leatherwood, manager of Beechwood Park apartments, said she has been trying for a long time to persuade police to lock a gate at the entrance to the recreation area at night.

"I guess now that this has happened, they'll close it now," Leatherwood said.

(Staff writer David Bracken contributed to this report.)