Arkansas
Wayne County boater death marks 23rd in Tennessee, surpassing 2024 total
Tennessee waterway deaths this year have climbed to 23, surpassed last year’s total, after an Arkansas man was killed in Wayne County Oct. 17.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency reported 22 deaths for all of 2024, a decrease from 27 in 2023.
Wildlife resource officers were called to Kentucky Lake in Wayne County just before 3 p.m. Oct. 17 after a boater went into the water, according to a news release.
Wayne County is about two hours south of Nashville on the Alabama, Tennessee state line.
Matthew Hubble, 37, of Brookland, Arkansas, was out on a boat with friends when he was ejected. The group had multiple boats on the water that day, the agency said.
Hubble’s friends immediately began searching for him, the agency said. They were successful and pulled him onto one of the boats where they took him to Clifton Marina. Paramedics met the group at the marina, the agency said.
Hubble ultimately did not survive.
He was not wearing a life jacket at the time of the accident, the agency said.
“The investigation is ongoing, and no further details are available at this time,” the agency said.
Kentucky Lake reported the most the most boating injuries in Tennessee last year with six, according to the 2024 Tennessee Boating Incident Statistical Report.
Water deaths down in Nashville area
Despite the rise in the number of deaths this year, the Middle Tennessee region has largely been spared.
Between April and September of 2023, there were 17 waterway deaths on Nashville District Lakes. Last year there were 14 deaths, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.
Percy Priest Reservoir and Old Hickory Lake led the state in fatal accidents on waterways in 2024 with three each, according to the statistical report.
Percy Priest has seen fewer incidents this year.
In June, a child drowned while swimming with his family at Hamilton Creek Park. Tobias Henock, 5, went underwater and was missing for several minutes before his father found him. Family began CPR until paramedics arrived and took the boy to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital. He was pronounced dead there.
A series of waves rocked David Holcroft’s sailboat, causing him to lose his balance and fall overboard Aug. 2. Nearby boaters heard a call for help.
Officers with the wildlife agency responded to the Hamilton Creek area of the Percy Priest Reservoir and pulled Holcroft from the water. Officers gave him CPR until paramedics arrived at the scene.
Holcroft was taken to TriStar Summit Medical Center, where he died.
Rex Nelson
Rex Nelson has been senior editor and columnist at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette since 2017, and he has a biweekly podcast called “Southern Fried.”
After graduating from Ouachita Baptist University in 1981, he was a sportswriter for the Arkansas Democrat for a year before becoming editor of Arkadelphia’s Daily Siftings Herald. He was the youngest editor of a daily in Arkansas at age 23. Rex was then news and sports director at KVRC-KDEL from 1983-1985.
He returned to the Democrat as assistant sports editor in 1985. From 1986-1989, he was its Washington correspondent. He left to be Jackson T. Stephens’ consultant.
Rex became the Democrat-Gazette’s first political editor in 1992, but left in 1996 to join then-Gov. Mike Huckabee’s office. He also served from 2005-09 in the administration of President George W. Bush.
From 2009-2018, he worked stints at the Communications Group, Arkansas’ Independent Colleges and Universities, and Simmons First National Corp.
Dylan Sherman
Dylan Sherman is a business reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He is based in Northwest Arkansas and focuses on Tyson Foods Inc. and the transportation industry. A graduate of the University of Missouri, he has been with the newspaper since 2023.
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