Friend goes under trying to save drowning man after boat capsizes, Virginia police say
Two friends are dead after their fishing boat capsized and they drowned, Virginia officials say.
Officers with the Department of Wildlife Resources recovered the bodies of Landon Oakes, 21, and Zachary Travis, 20, on Thursday, Jan. 5, concluding a “physically and emotionally exhausting” days-long search.
The pair had been missing since Monday, according to a Facebook post from Landon Oakes’ mom, Kelly Oakes. She said her son had gone fishing with a friend at Smith Mountain Lake, and her husband received a call from state police reporting the incident that afternoon.
“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to type in my life,” Kelly Oakes wrote. “We are beyond devastated and can’t process.”
A witness saw the boat capsize and called 911, Kelly Oakes said. At first, the two boys were holding on to the boat, but then Landon Oakes swam to shore. He went back to the boat to help Travis who was struggling. The friends never resurfaced after that.
Officials said they found Landon Oakes’ fishing boat on Tuesday, according to WDBJ. On Thursday, a team of divers used sonar radar and were able to locate the bodies.
The bodies were found close to the scene of the incident and near each other, the Department of Wildlife Resources said in a news release.
Friends and family have shared tributes on social media as the search has unfolded.
“We are in shock! The only peace we have is knowing that in true Landon fashion, he went back to save his friend,” Kelly Oakes said in her Facebook post. “Landon was so obsessed with fishing that in his words, he got a college degree in fishing.”
“I’m really struggling to process how unfair life is sometimes. My heart is broken,” another friend wrote in a post about Landon Oakes.
Travis’s father said his son was “one fine gentleman” in a Facebook post.
“My son was a one of a kind and I will love and miss him the rest of my life,” he wrote in another comment.
“I just wish there was something I could’ve done to help you,” a friend posted. “This is so unreal. I cannot comprehend it.”
Smith Mountain Lake is about 100 miles north of Greensboro, North Carolina.
This story was originally published January 5, 2023 at 4:50 PM with the headline "Friend goes under trying to save drowning man after boat capsizes, Virginia police say."
