Man was fishing in boat on SC lake when he died, coroner says. Here’s the cause
The search for a man who went missing while fishing in a South Carolina lake ended when his body was pulled from the water Saturday night, according to the Oconee County Coroner’s Office.
Rodney Lyle Palmer — a 62-year-old Maggie Valley, North Carolina resident — died Saturday afternoon after apparently falling from a boat while fishing, Coroner Karl Addis said Sunday in a news release. Following an autopsy, the coroner’s office said Palmer’s death was an accident.
Palmer’s body was recovered by divers at 8:20 p.m. Saturday, in the Tugaloo River section of Lake Hartwell, according to the release. That’s by the South Union area, near the state line separating South Carolina and Georgia, and about 130 miles from Palmer’s North Carolina home.
At about 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Palmer dropped off his son and a friend from the boat along the shoreline, the coroner’s office said. The pair were going deer hunting, according to the release.
While they were hunting, Palmer told the pair that he would be fishing, the coroner’s office said.
When they returned from hunting and exited the woods at approximately 5:40 p.m., they saw that the boat was midway in the cove, and unoccupied, according to the release.
At 6:11 p.m., a 911 call was made to report the missing boater, the coroner’s office said. A search ensued and Palmer’s body was located and recovered by divers in a part of the lake where the water is about 8-feet deep, according to the release.
An autopsy showed that Palmer drowned, the coroner’s office said Tuesday. Palmer suffered no other injuries and no apparent medical event was seen, according to the coroner’s office.
There was no word about why Palmer fell from the boat. But Addis said it’s presumed that Palmer died between 3 and 5 p.m.
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources is also investigating Palmer’s death, according to Addis.
No other injuries were reported.
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This story was originally published November 16, 2025 at 9:28 AM.
