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The abandoned Fredericksburg quarry is the site where 19-year-old Cary Noyes died in an accidental drowning yesterday afternoon.
Fredericksburg Rescue member Rebecca Christ (left) comforts Amanda Vassel at the Fredericksburg quarry yesterday afternoon. Amanda and five friends were swimming in the abandoned quarry, where one of her friends, Cary Noyes, drowned.
Members of the Fredericksburg Fire Department and Rescue Squad move Cary Noyes to an ambulance at the Fredericksburg quarry yesterday. Noyes drowned while swimming with friends. |
By KEITH EPPS
A University of Mary Washington student drowned yesterday while swimming with friends at a Fredericksburg quarry.
Cary Noyes, a 19-year-old sophomore from Maine, was underwater for more than an hour before rescue worker recovered his body at 3:28 p.m., city fire department spokesman Reggie Phillips said.
Noyes was pronounced dead a short time later at Mary Washington Hospital. His family was notified yesterday afternoon and his father is expected to fly here today, Phillips said.
The quarry is on private property off Wicklow Drive in the Bragg Hill area of the city. The victim and at least five friends rode there yesterday to enjoy the warm weather. At least some of the friends are also UMW students.
There used to be "No Trespassing" signs posted on the property, but officials who were at the scene yesterday said they didn't notice if the signs were still there.
Phillips said someone called 911 at 2:08 p.m. yesterday to report that the victim had gone under the water.
Witnesses said members of the group had swum out about 50 feet when one of them looked back and saw the victim struggling. He quickly went down in about 30 feet of water and didn't resurface.
It was not clear yesterday what caused the victim to go under the water.
Four divers, three from the city fire department and one from the city rescue squad, responded and searched for close to an hour before finding the victim.
Authorities said the water temperature was about 40 degrees where Noyes was found.
Officials from the college showed up to console the students, who were visibly distraught about what had just happened. Numerous emergency workers also arrived at the scene.
Veteran emergency workers at the scene said they could not recall another fatal swimming incident at the quarry, though there have been plenty in the nearby Rappahannock River.
City police spokesman Jim Shelhorse said police occasionally respond to complaints about trespassing at the quarry, but said in general it has not been a big problem.
To reach KEITH EPPS:
Email: kepps@freelancestar.com
