2 Men Die In Separate Drowning Incidents

By Michael Amon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 27, 2002; Page SM04

Two men drowned last weekend in incidents on the Patuxent and Potomac rivers, Maryland authorities said.

William A. Rodriguez, 31, of Takoma Park, died after jumping into the Patuxent to save his teenage sister Friday night, said Heather Lynch, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The other victim, an unidentified 39-year-old man from Central America, died while swimming in the Potomac at a beach in Point Lookout State Park.

Lynch said Rodriguez was in an 18-foot Bayliner on Friday about 8 p.m. on the Patuxent, about a mile offshore of Benedict, with three other people, including his 14-year-old sister. Two people were swimming with life jackets on.

Lynch said Rodriguez's sister fell off the stern into the water, and he jumped in after her. Neither was wearing a life jacket. Lynch said the teenager made it back into the boat, but Rodriguez never resurfaced.

Dive teams from Charles and Calvert counties scoured the water for four hours Friday, fighting a strong current and murky waters. They were unable to locate Rodriguez.

"By the time we had been able to get our resources in place, it had become dark," said Kenny Gray, chief of the Calvert County Rescue Dive Team. "Visibility was not good."

Rodriguez's body was not found until Sunday afternoon, off the shore of Golden Beach by a passing boater. J.B. Hanson, a spokesman for the state medical examiner's office, said the cause of Rodriguez's death has not been determined.

The other victim was swimming in an unprotected area of the Potomac where no lifeguards were stationed, Lynch said. About 2:50 p.m., children ran to a Point Lookout lifeguard station and told them that a man was drowning, Lynch said.

The man's friends pulled him from the water and were trying to resuscitate him when authorities arrived, Lynch said.

The man was taken to St. Mary's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Lynch said. Authorities know the man's age, but not his name, because of difficulties communicating with the man's friends, who do not speak English, Lynch said.