6-year-old swam to get help after dad fell from boat and vanished, SC cops say

A Sunday afternoon boating trip turned horrific for a 6-year-old boy when he saw his father fall from their boat and vanish in the water, according to investigators in upstate South Carolina.

The boy swam to shore to get help, but 34-year-old Leron Lee Williams died before rescuers arrived, Cherokee County Corner Dennis Fowler said in a news release.

It happened around 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28, at a neighborhood pond near Blacksburg, Fowler said.

“Williams and his 6-year-old son were in a small boat floating in a pond. ... According to the child, he and his dad were attempting to change seats in the boat when Williams fell out and did not surface,” Fowler said.

“The boy jumped out of the boat and swam to shore to summon help. The victim was recovered from a water depth of approximately 6 feet by members the CKC Fire Department about 7:30 p.m.”

Williams, who was not wearing a life vest, was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. He lived in Gaffney, about a 9-mile drive southwest from Blacksburg.

An autopsy is planned to confirm a cause of death, Fowler said.

Blacksburg is near the North Carolina state line, about a 100-mile drive northwest from Columbia.