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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, July 8, 2014 INCIDENTS Natchez Trace Parkway Homicide Victim Found In Park The Leake County Sheriff's Department and Natchez Trace Parkway, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, are investigating the death of Courtney Cooke, 27, of Leake County. On the morning of Thursday, July 3rd, rangers discovered Cooke's body in a vehicle off the roadway near milepost 143 along the Natchez Trace Parkway. Authorities are seeking any information that may aid in their investigation. If you have any information, please contact the Leake County Sheriff's Department at (601) 267-7361, Crimestoppers at 886-481-8477 or 601-355-8477, or the Natchez Trace Parkway 1-800-300-PARK(7275). [Sarah Davis, Chief Ranger] Lake Mead NRA Drowning, Near-Drowning Occur On Same Day On Lake Mohave Rangers dealt with a drowning and a near-drowning on Lake Mohave on Sunday, June 15th. The first incident occurred at Cabinsite Point. A 37-year-old man was swimming across the cove there to retrieve an inflatable raft for his daughter when he began to struggle and subsequently disappeared underwater. He was not wearing a life jacket. Local divers who were training in the area recovered his body approximately 40 feet below the surface. CPR was begun, but was ultimately unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at Western Arizona Regional Medical Center. Later in the day, rangers received a call concerning a possible drowning at Cottonwood Cove on Lake Mohave. An 18-year-old had swum approximately 50 yards from shore when he began having difficulty in the choppy waters and started shouting for help. He was reportedly submerged for a minute before two visitors on a jet ski pulled him onboard and took him to shore. Witnesses on shore notified the NPS within minutes of the incident. Rangers and medics arrived and were able to successfully treat him. He also was not wearing a life jacket. [Christie Vanover, Public Affairs Officer] Cape Cod NS Visitor Drowns Off Park Shoreline On the morning of June 22nd, a 27-year-old California man drowned while attempting to swim from a sandbar to shore approximately two miles south of Race Point Beach within the boundaries of Cape Cod National Seashore. Rangers, lifeguards and Provincetown fire and rescue personnel responded, took over CPR from other park visitors and utilized an AED, but were unable to revive him. [Leslie Reynolds, Chief Ranger] Lake Mead NRA Man Falls From Boat And Drowns In Lake The body of a 36-year-old Las Vegas, who disappeared in the lake near Callville Bay Marina on the evening of Wednesday, July 2nd, was found by divers in 15 feet of water the following afternoon. The park received the initial call just before 9 p.m. on Wednesday. The caller reported that the man fell off the front of a boat and disappeared underwater. Rangers and concessions security personnel responded and began an immediate search from the point where he was last seen. The search resumed on Thursday with the assistance of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Search and Rescue Dive Team. Witnesses reported that the man had been drinking and wasn't wearing a life jacket. [Christie Vanover, Public Affairs Officer] OTHER NEWS The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers): Office of Risk Management - Representatives from 13 parks, the US Park Police, Southeast Regional Office, and the Washington Office gathered at NCTC over three days in early June to address the issue of drowning, the leading cause of unintentional fatal injuries to visitors to the national parks. Coronado NM - During the last week of June, 65 young summer school students worked with Southeast Arizona Group resource management staff to plant over 130 baby Palmer's agaves in Coronado NM. Harpers Ferry NHP - In celebration of the park's 70th anniversary, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park hosted a naturalization ceremony for 28 new Americans on June 30th. Independence NHP - Through a gift from several park partners, fifth grade Junior Rangers at a local elementary school got to give nearly a thousand books to their fellow students. Office of International Affairs - In early June, two NPS interpretive trainers traveled to the Sultanate of Oman to facilitate a five-day workshop on interpretive skills and techniques for museum guides there. Sleeping Bear Dunes NL - Jim Dal Sasso is retiring after 40-plus years of dedicated service to the United States, mostly with the NPS. For the past 22 years, Jim has been a ranger at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites: NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/ The Morning Report is produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov). --- ### --- |