Two people drowned at Dale Hollow Lake two weekends ago, according to Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officials.

Janet Shattles, 35, of Crossville, and William Napier, 30, of Deer Lodge, are reported as dead after a search that kicked off Friday after a fisherman at Cove Creek boat ramp reportedly noticed what appeared to be a woman floating face-down and unresponsive in the water near the ramp at approximately 8:30 p.m. Friday, May 11.

TWRA Boating Division Officer Nick Luper said, “At approximately 8:30 Friday evening, Pickett County Sheriff’s Office received a phone call from a fisherman who was trying to load his boat at Cove Creek Recreation Area. They had seen something floating in the water and went over to it, and it appeared to be an unresponsive female. Pickett County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene, found that it was a female and that she was deceased.”

Luper said that witnesses in the area had reported seeing the woman in the company of a man, who was missing. That kicked off a search of the area by Pickett County Sheriff’s Department and TWRA officers, among others.

After being delayed by darkness and inclement weather, the search finally turned up Napier’s body on Monday morning, May 14. He was found near where Shattles had been found.

Luper said, “We found the man yesterday (Monday) morning around 8:30 a.m. in pretty much the same general area we found Ms. Shattles, in about eight feet of water, by a member of Pickett County Rescue Squad.

According to Luper and TWRA Region 3 Public Information Officer Dan Hicks, there are a couple of theories as to what may have happened. One is that the two were trying to swim to shore after having engine trouble on their boat, a 1972 Surf Rider ski boat. The other theory was that the boat may have come untied and floated away from the camp area at Cove Creek, where the two were believed to have been staying, and they had tried to swim out to retrieve it. The boat was found approximately 700 yards across the lake from where the two bodies were found, with its key switched off and its prop both out of gear and out of the water.

Hicks said, “It didn’t appear to be a crash. The boat was intact and the engine was up, so the prop wasn’t even in the water, so we don’t feel like they were underway.”

Both bodies have been sent to the state medical examiner for an autopsy, though Hicks said neither showed signs of visible trauma. Both officers also noted that neither drowning victim was wearing a life jacket.

Luper said, “Of course, a life jacket will nine times out of 10 make a difference in these types of incidents. There were two life jackets in the boat, but they weren’t in what we’d call serviceable condition. If they’d had some type of floatation with them, that would have helped them out.

“We encourage anybody when they’re out in the water on DHL to have a lifejacket on you,” he said.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing, according to both officers, who said there were no witnesses who saw the two victims during the time the drowning was believed to have occurred.