Man chased fishing rod into SC river and never resurfaced alive, coroner says
A South Carolina man was killed Monday after jumping into a river in the Midlands, according to the Kershaw County Coroner’s Office.
Paul Edward Turner is the 73-year-old Sumter resident whose body was recovered from the Wateree River, Coroner David West said.
Turner was called a drowning victim by the Kershaw County Fire Service, which was involved in the recovery. No official cause of death has been announced, but West said that an autopsy will be performed to help make that determination.
At about 11:05 a.m., Turner’s wife called 911 to report that he had disappeared in the river, according to the coroner’s office.
She told emergency responders from the Kershaw County Fire Service that Turner had a fishing rod set that had fallen into the river, the coroner’s office said. He went into the river in pursuit of the fishing gear but never resurfaced alive, according to the coroner’s office.
The search was in a part of the Wateree River near Tail Race Road, in the Lugoff area of Kershaw County, the fire service said. No boats will be allowed to launch at the Tail Race Boat Ramp during the search that also involved members of Kershaw County EMS, the Lugoff Fire Department, Camden/Kershaw Rescue squad and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
Turner’s body was recovered at about 2 p.m., the coroner’s office said.
Information about the depth of the water where Turner was found in the 75-mile-long Wateree River was not available.
In March 2025, two men died in the same part of the river, behind Wateree Dam. The victims in that incident were he victims were 21-year-old Richland County resident Valentin Ulises Nicolas Quiroz and 43-year-old Sumter resident Lonnie Hancock, according to the coroner’s office.
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