A crash between two vessels on Lake Mitchell ejected two and injured one on Friday night, authorities have confirmed.

Around 7:15 p.m. on June 26, a 17-foot Bumblebee Bass boat collided with a 17-foot Nova Bass boat in Hatchet Creek on Lake Mitchell in Coosa County.

The collision caused the operator of the Bumblebee and a passenger to be ejected into the water. The passenger — 38-year-old Natasha L. Holt of Munford — was recovered from the water and transported to Baptist Medical Center East in Montgomery for treatment.

The others involved in the crash — 24-year-old Duncan Davis of Deatsville and 30-year-old Trevor Howell of Munford, the operators of the Nova and Bumblebee respectively — were not injured in the crash.

So what are so many otherwise reliable people seeing in the woods? Wildlife experts believe most sightings are misidentifications—animals seen in low light that appear larger, darker, or differently shaped than they truly are. Locals frequently report encounters in wooded and mountainous regions, and in most cases, the culprit is likely a bobcat, a black bear cub, an oversized dog, or even a house cat caught in the wrong light. Alabama’s only native wildcat, the bobcat, is typically tan and spotted, though melanistic all-black bobcats have occasionally been recorded—still far smaller than any panther, but striking enough to give pause in a dark wood.

A man who escaped an Alabama prison facility and allegedly staged a local carjacking in 2019 has been extradited to Escambia County, Florida.

Travis Wyatt Dawson was served with outstanding warrants and extricated last week for felony carjacking with a weapon and misdemeanor battery. He remains in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $102,500.

The charges stem from a July 14, 2019, incident on Miller Road in Walnut Hill. Dawson, who had escaped from a Loxley, Alabama, work release center four days prior, allegedly grabbed a victim from behind, brandished a machete, and stole a 2016 Dodge Caravan. As Dawson fled the scene, a witness jumped into the back of the minivan to try to stop him. The vehicle was later found abandoned after running out of gas at Interstate 65 and Government Street in Mobile.

Dawson eluded capture until May 2020, when he was apprehended in Louisiana.

At the time of his escape, Dawson was serving a 20 years sentence for a 2013 convocation for possession of a controlled substance in Escambia County, Alabama.

A man who escaped an Alabama prison facility in 2019 and allegedly staged a local carjacking has been extradited to Escambia County, Florida.

Travis Wyatt Dawson was served with outstanding warrants and extricated last week for felony carjacking with a weapon and misdemeanor battery.

The charges stem from a July 14, 2019, incident on Miller Road in Walnut Hill. Dawson, who had escaped from a Loxley, Alabama, work release center four days prior, allegedly grabbed a victim from behind, brandished a machete, and stole a 2016 Dodge Caravan. As Dawson fled the scene, a witness jumped into the back of the minivan to try to stop him. The vehicle was later found abandoned after running out of gas at Interstate 65 and Government Street in Mobile.

Dawson eluded capture until May 2020, when he was apprehended in Louisiana.

At the time of his escape, Dawson was serving a 20 years sentence for a 2013 convocation for possession of a controlled substance in Escambia County, Alabama.

Pictured top: Officers from the Alabama Department of Corrections speak to an Escambia County (FL) deputy and a citizen a roadblock on Miller Road in Florida on July 12, 2019. Dawson allegedly carjacked a minivan just a few yards from this location on July 14, 2019.  Pictured below: An Escambia County (FL) Road Prison K-9 team searches near a Rockaway Creek Road bridge that spans the Alabama-Florida state line. Pictured bottom: An Escambia County (FL) deputy helps maintain a perimeter around a neighborhood along Rockaway Creek Road at Grubbs Street in Atmore. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.