Enid Drowning Was Among Four Recorded During Holiday
Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department record information at the scene on May 30 after a Memphis man drowned at Enid Lake. – Photo by David Howell
Enid Drowning Was Among Four Recorded During Holiday
Staff Report
JACKSON – The Mississippi Department of Wild-life, Fisheries and Parks (MDWFP) reported four drownings occurred over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The unrelated incidents included a Memphis man who drowned at Chickasaw Hills beach at Enid Lake.
Leon Henderson, 56, was visiting the beach at Chickasaw Hills on May 30 when he fell off of his float and went under. His body was recovered almost 30 minutes later by beach goers. The drowning was the first at Enid Lake since 2004.
In neighboring Tallahatchie County an Enid man, Tommy Glenn Goodwin, 54, drowned Sunday, May 29, in the Tallahatchie River.
According to the Sun Sentinel, Goodwin and several other people were camping along the river near Paducah Wells Bridge when he reportedly lost his footing on the bank and slipped into the water around 10:30 that night. His body was recovered almost six hours later following a search by Tallahatchie County, MDWFP and others.
In southern Mississippi, two teenagers drowned in separate incidents in Forrest County during the holiday weekend.
MDWFP also reported conservation officers issued 413 total citations during the weekend from Friday, May 27, to Monday, May 30 at midnight. Forty-one of the citations were alcohol and drug related including 10 Boating Under the Influence (BUI) citations.
In conjunction with the National Safe Boating Week (May 21 – 27), conservation officers conducted 2,411 safety checks on vessels operating on Mississippi’s public waters. All available officers were utilized during the holiday weekend conducting saturation pat-rols and safety checkpoints.
“Due to the enforcement efforts of our officers, boating related incidents this holiday weekend were at a record low,” according to Capt Calvin Fulton, Boating Law Administrator.
